Seeing the Truth
by Lady Okori
Summary: OC replaces Sakura. Takamaru Akina is a blind orphan kunoichi who was taken to Konoha by her wolf companion, Kouseki, at the age of six. Stronger than she seems, she remembers nothing before her life at Konoha. The blind can see more than you think.
1. Takamaru Akina

I've been meaning to make a new fanfiction anyways, so here ya go! In this story, one of my OCs completely replaces Sakura. I'm sorry all you Sakura lovers out there, I just don't quite like her attitude and just thinking about typing her behavior in the beginning...makes me feel sick inside.

Warning: Slight AU later on! It will be like the canon, but with a few twists!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, squealing from fan girls would be banned because it hurts my ears and makes a cold shiver go up my spine...**

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**::;Seeing the Truth;::**

**Chapter 1: Takamaru Akina**

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The crowd parted as a young girl walked through, followed by, interestingly enough, a large black wolf. Whispers started as she trudged slowly towards the Academy for the team assignments.

"Is that...?"

"It's the wolf girl!"

"The orphan."

They stared after the girl, their gazes filled with pity, sadness, and slight fear. But she paid no heed to them.

Why?

Because Takamaru Akina was blind.

And by some odd turn of events, was graduating one year early, with the upperclassmen. Most thought of it as a fluke, but the Hokage knew it wasn't. By all means, she should have become a genin long ago, but lacked the drive, the motivation.

Takamaru Akina had no dream to follow, and no will to succeed. All she had was Kouseki, the black she-wolf that had taken care of her for as long as she could remember, which wasn't too far back, considering that she can only remember back to when she was six.

Kouseki cast a golden-eyed glare to all the villagers surrounding them as she followed her 'pup' diligently. She snorted internally. _The ningen don't change do they..._

Sensing her caretaker's thoughts, Akina stopped in front of the Academy and tilted her head slightly at the canine.

Akina was a petite girl with ebony hair in two low ponytails that reached the middle of her back. Long bangs framed her pale face, her eyes hidden underneath her black hitai-ate. She had capris and the standard shinobi sandals, zori. She wore a fishnet shirt over a right t-shirt that loosened as it went down, showing some of her stomach from her open jacket.

Her entire outfit was black except for the dark blue jacket, and her torso was covered in bandages. Black half gloves with metal plates were on her hands.

Kouseki shook these thoughts from her head and nudged Akina's hand, signaling her to move on. The girl nodded in response and walked into the loudest classroom as if she could see perfectly fine.

Akina slid open the door, and all noise instantly stopped at their arrival.

Ino had stopped arguing with Ami, another fan of Sasuke's ((AN: The purple-haired bully from the flower class...)) and instantly became uncomfortable now that Akina had arrived. She knew it was a fact that Akina was blind, but she couldn't help but feel her gaze penetrating her soul as the younger girl's head turned in her direction.

She gulped and tried to cover up her unease. "Hey blind girl! Did you bump into anyone on your way here?"

Some of the class snickered quietly, but Akina ignored them in favor of sitting down in her seat next to Sasuke, who acknowledged her with a barely audible murmur of greeting.

He didn't mind Akina, as she wasn't one of his fan girls and didn't bother him.

Shikamaru stirred from his slumber at the sudden rise in noise. _Right when it got quiet enough for me to sleep too..._ He turned his head slightly and saw Akina. Half-shrugging, he fell asleep again, not in the least bit concerned. Chouji felt the same way.

They knew how being picked on felt like and sympathized.

Akamaru jumped off of Kiba's head and headed over to Kouseki (who had lay down in the back of the classroom) to greet her. Kiba looked down from his seat and grinned at the girl.

"Yo, Akina-chan!"

Kiba was the closest to Akina, since she had a wolf partner. He treated her like a little sister since she was younger, and was the only one who could get more than a couple sentences out of her at a time.

She nodded and quietly replied, "Ohayo, Kiba, Akamaru."

The door slammed open again and revealed a panting Naruto, who looked like he had just woken up. He was proudly displaying his headband and looked for a place to sit. He saw an empty seat next to Akina (she was sitting where Sakura would be sitting) and bounded over, yelling his "GOOD MORNING!"

Sasuke suppressed a cringe, and Akina nodded at Naruto in greeting.

"GET OUT OF MY SEAT NO-EYES!"

Both Sasuke and Akina inwardly winced at the shrill voice, especially Akina since she was blind, and had her other senses heightened. Ino was in front of Akina, glaring at her after finally getting the nerve to come over and demand her seat.

Akina faced her calmly and frowned ever so slightly. They stayed that way while Naruto hopped up onto the desk in front of Sasuke, glaring at him for being he center of attention. Sasuke glared back, creating sparks.

The boy in front of Naruto leaned back in his chair, hitting Naruto in the process. He began to topple _towards_ Sasuke, who started to shrink back in apprehension. Akina quickly stood up and placed her hand between their mouths right before the inevitable 'kiss'.

The class grew quiet again as the boys stared at each other in shock. Shrieks erupted from all the girls in the classroom (excluding Hinata and Akina).

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF SASUKE'S INNOCENT LIPS!"

"NARUTO YOU BAKAYARO!"

"LET GO OF HIM, BITCH!"

Unfortunately Naruto had not noticed the screaming and was crouching down and trying to get the image of the two rivals kissing out of his mind. He failed to sense the doom that was about to fall upon him.

Akina frowned again in annoyance. Kouseki chuckled in the background. She loved trouble. Akamaru heard his companion's sadistic laughs and lay down with his paws over his ears. Kiba grinned in anticipation of the fight that was to come.

Sighing silently, she stood next to Naruto and nudged him with her foot. He looked up and saw her facing the growing mob of angry fan girls. He gulped and sweat nervously.

Ino took the lead.

"GET THEM!"

All of the girls jumped them at the same time and created a dust cloud of flailing arms and legs next to Sasuke's desk. His eye twitched slightly. _Damn fan girls..._

He then noticed Akina and Naruto sitting next to him again without a scratch, and glanced back at the mob of fan girls. They didn't look like they had noticed.

He looked back at the two survivors. Naruto looked slightly confused as to how he go back to safety. Akina was sitting as calmly as ever. He narrowed his eyes a little.

Up until now, Akina had shown nothing but average skills in both academics and physical training. She was hiding something...

Iruka came into his classroom to find the still fighting group of girls and whistled. They stopped and looked around to see everybody staring at them. They saw Akina and Naruto safe from harm. Glaring (and covered in bruises and cuts), they all sat down.

The chuunin smiled proudly at all of his students, his gaze lingering on Naruto for a moment longer, remembering the night before when he had learned the truth about himself and saved his sensei's life.

"Today, you will all take the first step into the ninja life and serve this village. Congratulations on graduating the Konohagakure Ninja Academy!"

The class cheered, whether at the mention of "graduating" and getting out of the school, or actually becoming ninja.

"Today, I will be assigning you to three-man teams under a jounin sensei."

Sasuke grimaced. _Three-man teams? All of them will weigh me down..._

Akina showed no reaction, having already known this.

"Team 1..."

Akina kept one ear on Iruka's voice and listened to all the prayers for certain team mates going around the room with slight interest.

Naruto: Not Sasuke. Not Sasuke. Not Sasuke.

Hinata (in a tiny mumble): Please let me be on Naruto-kun's team…

Ino and various other fan girls: Sasuke. Sasuke. Sasuke. Sasuke.

"Team Seven! Uchiha Sasuke…"

All the fan girls tensed and doubled their efforts.

"Uzumaki Naruto..."

Said ninja groaned and slammed his head on his desk. The girls' whispers could now be heard in the background.

Iruka smiled teasingly at his students as he saw most of the girls on the edge of their seats. They held their breaths.

"Takamaru Akina."

"NOOOOOO!"

Naruto stopped his head banging and sighed in slight relief. Being on Akina's team was okay, since she didn't treat him any different from others. Sasuke was his problem. He then growled and jumped onto his desk, pointing at his male team mate angrily.

"Hey Iruka-sensei! Why does a great ninja like me have to be on that teme's team?! Switch him out!"

Iruka sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Naruto. The teams were made to be balanced. You are the dead-last. Sasuke is the Rookie of the Year. Akina is there to balance you both out since she's in the middle.

Naruto looked like he was about to yell again.

"And besides, Hokage-sama himself decided these teams. If you have a problem, take it up with him."

He groaned and slumped in his desk. Sasuke smirked at his despair.

"Just don't slow me down...dobe."

Naruto shot him a death glare.

"Naruto. Sasuke."

Immediately she had their attention, whether they wanted to give it or not. Akina didn't speak that often, and when she did it was usually important.

"We are team mates, stop arguing."

Kouseki snickered behind her paw in the back of the class. _Straight and to the point. Nice job, pup._

Both boys _hmmphed_ and turned away from each other, leaving Akina to contemplate rubbing her temples to abate the coming head ache like Iruka was currently doing.

"Team 8!" Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino."

Hinata frowned at not being put on Naruto's team. But at least she was with her childhood friends.

"Team 10. Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, Yamanaka Ino."

The bell ran, signaling that it was time for lunch.

"Please get to know your team mates over lunch and go to your assigned classrooms after to meet your new sensei! Remember, I'm proud of you all!"

Naruto's stomach gurgled and he held it in pain. Akina tilted her head slightly. She took in his scent and smelled expired milk.

Kouseki was nearly in tears from laughter after the various scenes in the classroom. Akamaru sighed slightly and waited for his master to leave.

The genin that would in the future be called the Rookie Nine stayed back to keep out of the mob that was pushing its way out of the small doorway. Most were looking at Naruto in amusement or interest.

"Naruto."

He looked up from his pain.

"Try not to drink expired milk from now on..."

Kiba burst into laughter, grinning. Chouji smiled slightly and nudged Shikamaru awake (he grumbled in protest) so that they could leave. Ino was still frozen in shock and anger at the team arrangements. She shook it off and trudged up in front of Akina, glaring. She pointed at her angrily.

"No-Eyes...why the hell do you get to be with Sasuke-kun? It should be me!" She clenched her hands into fists. Akina seemed to take no notice and calmly 'stared' back at her. The rest of their classmates looked on in interest or concern.

Ino snarled and cocked her fist back, throwing it at Akina's face. She stopped herself an inch from her nose, but Akina hadn't moved or reacted at all.

The blond smirked mockingly. "Heh...I knew it. The blind girl can't even sense a punch being thrown at her. Loser. Sasuke-kun will never fall for you. I'm sure of it."

Everyone else in the room frowned, Sasuke especially, since he was sitting right there and was being treated like some trophy to be won.

With that last statement, she left, but not without being growled at by Akamaru and Kouseki.

Shikamaru rolled his neck and sighed. "How troublesome..." he mumbled, "...We have to put up with that until we're chuunin...I'm gonna die."

Naruto brought the attention back to himself after he groaned in pain again. He got up hurriedly to go to the bathroom and would have fallen flat on his face after tripping if not for Akina grasping the back of his jacket to keep him balanced.

He smiled thankfully at Akina.

"Arigatou Akina-chan! That's twice!"

She shrugged lightly. "We're team mates now."

He grinned, nodded, and hurried towards the bathroom to relieve himself.

The rest of Teams 7, 8, and 10 started to leave, but not without casting Akina looks of earned respect or acknowledgment for not responding to Ino even if she could have.

((AN: Err...Ino is really a bitch at this time...she'll improve eventually, I promise!))

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Akina exited with Kiba, Akamaru, and Kouseki towards the shade of a tree outside to eat lunch. Kiba talked animatedly as always about being a ninja and about the teams. He grinned at the thought of Akina's little performances in the class room and asked why she didn't try harder if she was able to do that stuff. She just shrugged.

"I didn't feel like it until now."

The bell rang after they finished eating, and they walked back together. Kouseki padded beside Akina, coming up to her shoulders. She looks big enough to be ridden by a small person like the Takamaru.

The two canine-users parted ways to meet up with their respective teams.

3 hours later, Sasuke, Naruto, Akina, and Kouseki were still waiting for their sensei. Naruto was getting extremely agitated, and was showing it by ranting.

"ARGH! That's it!"

He set a trap in the shouji door, grinning in anticipation. Sasuke frowned.

"Our sensei is a jounin. An elite ninja. There's no way that he'll fall for a simple trick like that."

Not a second later, a hand opened the door and a shower of chalk fell upon a silver head.

Hatake Kakashi had finally arrived.

His bored eye scanned the room.

He saw a hyperactive (and laughing) blond. The whisker marks marked him as the demon container.

A brooding ebony-haired boy. The Uchiha for sure.

And a black-haired girl that was blind folded with her headband siting next to a very large black wolf that looked to be laughing just as much as the blond.

"My first impression of you is..."

All four focused their attention on him.

"I hate you."

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Out on the roof of the school, Team 7 gathered. Kakashi stood in front of the two 12 year olds and 11 year old.

They were in the following order: Sasuke, Naruto, Akina, Kouseki.

"All right. Let's introduce ourselves."

Naruto cocked his head. "Why don't you go first, sensei? We don't even know you!"

Kakashi smiled...or at least that's what they thought he was doing, seeing as his face was almost entirely covered.

"Okay. I'm Hatake Kakashi. I have a lot of likes and dislikes, but you don't need to know any of them. As for dreams for the future? I won't tell you, but...I do have a lot of hobbies."

Kouseki cocked her head to the side in amusement. This ningen smelled of nin-dogs and had an...interesting personality. Naruto grumbled about not learning anything except his name.

He pointed to Naruto. "You first, blondie."

Naruto shot him a glare before starting. "Well my name is Uzumaki Naruto, I love ramen. I love every type of ramen, beef ramen, shrimp ramen, fish ramen, and pork ramen. I hate the three-minutes you have to wait for ramen to cook. My dream in life is become the future Hokage and surpass all previous Hokage's so people will acknowledge me!"

Kakashi showed no reaction, but inside he was impressed at how he grew up. He looked at Sasuke. "The brooding one. You next."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't like much, and I dislike a lot. My dream...no, more like my ambition...is to kill a certain man, and resurrect my clan."

Naruto and Kouseki both froze at these words, for different reasons.

_Does he mean me?_ Naruto thought nervously.

_I didn't expect him to become so dark this quickly..._ Kouseki sighed inwardly, not really looking forward to putting up with the boy.

Kakashi and Akina didn't expect anything else.

"And...the young lady."

"Takamaru Akina. Training and Kouseki (here, she gestured towards the wolf, who grinned, showing her inch-long fangs). People who judge without reason. None."

A sweat drop appeared on the back of Kakashi's head at the lack of response. Naruto and Sasuke were quite the opposite. They hadn't heard Akina talk so much at one time in months. It was amazing, but she actually talked less than Shino.

"Well, you're an interesting group..." _Great. I'm stuck with a blind girl who might as well be a mute, too, a sadistic looking wolf that looks like she likes seeing others in pain, a brooding Uchiha that wants to kill his brother, and a ramen-loving, hyperactive blondie. Just...great..._

"Meet me tomorrow at Training Area 7 at 7 am for our first mission."

Naruto jumped up and began frantically guessing what they were going to do. He was stopped by a raised hand from Kakashi. "This is a mission between the four of us...survival training."

Both boys snorted, thinking nothing of it. Kakashi just smiled again and started laughing like a maniac. Three pairs of eyes stared at him.

"What? Why are you laughing?" asked Naruto cautiously.

The jounin stopped laughing long enough to speak. "You're not gonna like it if I tell you..."

"What? What is it?"

"Out of the 27 graduates, only 9 will be accepted as genin. The graduation test was just to weed out the weak. This is the true test."

"66 percent fail rate," murmured the small girl. The boys stiffened.

"I suggest you don't eat anything tomorrow...or you'll throw up." With that, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. All three got up to leave. Sasuke was about to turn away when Akina spoke up again.

"Eat breakfast, you'll need the energy."

He paused, before walked off again. Naruto, Akina, and Kouseki walked together, since Akina was an orphan and lived in the same apartment building.

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OKAY! Please note that I went back and fixed all the grammar mistakes, and this AN is not what was originally here. (grins) Since this is the first chapter, I'd like to tell all potential readers that the chapter lengths will gradually get longer (if you were confused about the contrasting first chapter length, and the total). In fact, the most recent at this point, Chapter 14, is over 15,000 words long.

Please press that pretty periwinkle button below and review! I'd like your opinions, especially on my OCs!


	2. Tests and Suspicions

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**:;Seeing the Truth;:**

**Chapter 2: Tests and Suspicions**

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The next morning at 6:30 am, Naruto joined Akina and Kouseki in walking towards the three tree stumps. Naruto looked like death walking on two feet. It was painfully obvious that he wasn't used to waking up so early.

Kouseki and Akina have been waking with the sun for the past 5 years, so it wasn't anything new. Both females made sure that Naruto didn't run into anything by accident.

When they arrived, Sasuke was already there, leaning back on a tree. He nodded at Akina who nodded back and proceeded to ignore Naruto, who for once didn't mind.

4 hours later, Kakashi arrived to find Kouseki napping, a pissed Naruto, an agitated Sasuke, and a frowning Akina (he was smiling inside now that he had accomplished his goal in seeing a facial expression on her).

"YOU'RE LATE!" shouted Naruto. Their sensei eye-smiled.

"Sorry, sorry. I got lost on the road of life."

He brought out a timer and set it on the middle stump.

"This is set to noon." He took out 2 bells. "By then, you will have to get one bell each in order to pass and get lunch." Here, Naruto and Sasuke's stomachs growled, making them regret not listening to their teammate's advice. "Or else you'll get tied to the stump."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Kouseki narrowed their eyes (Kouseki's looked more intimidating) after seeing only 2 bells. Kakashi seemed to notice.

"One of you will fail for sure." Akina shrugged the threat off. She only felt like passing this year because Kiba was in this year.

"Come at me with killing intent if you want a bell."

"B-But you'll get hurt, Kakashi-sensei!" stuttered out Naruto. Surely, a person who couldn't dodge an eraser couldn't dodge kunai and shuriken?

"Please ignore the one with the lowest grades."

Growling, Naruto pulled out a kunai and charged. In the blink of an eye, Kakashi restrained Naruto and held his own kunai to the back of his head.

"Hold on, I didn't say 'Go' yet..."

Sasuke smirked. _So he really is a jounin..._

Kouseki and Akina got ready, a plan already forming in their minds.

"So you're starting to respect me...I'm starting to like you guys." He let go of Naruto, who backed off a few feet. "Ready, GO!"

All four took off into the surrounding forest.

Sasuke watched from a tree as Naruto was about to jump out and attack Kakashi. A hand grabbed him and he disappeared into the shadows with a muffled yelp.

In another tree, Akina was covering Naruto's mouth. After he calmed down, she let out a soundless sigh.

"Why did you stop me?! I would've creamed him!"

"Foolish thinking...genin won't win against jounin without team work."

"But what about the bells?"

"Trick."

While Naruto thought about what Akina said, she got out a scroll and scrawled a message inside it. Kouseki emerged from the shadows and took it from her after she was done writing (you need practice to write while being blind). She disappeared.

"Okay. Team work."

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"No."

Kouseki seemed to sigh. She had been given the task of delivering the message to Sasuke, explaining again what the test was about. _Cocky little..._ She snarled in frustration and nudged the scroll again, urging him to understand it. He shook his head.

"Tell her no."

_At least this way...I'll get to see what that girl is capable of..._

Sighing again, Kouseki left silently.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Akina frowned when Kouseki came back and told them no. Naruto had seen the wolf shake her head, so how did the girl see it if she was blind?_I'll ask her later..._

"Sasuke will not cooperate. Please distract him while I grab the bells."

"Okay Akina-chan!"

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Naruto jumped out from the bush. "You and me! Right here, right now!"

Kakashi sweat dropped. "You know...compared to the others...you're kinda weird."

Up in the trees, Akina was hidden and currently meditating. _Become one with nature..._ The wind started to swirl around her protectively as she "became the air". She tilted her head from side to side to hear and feel the wind parting around Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, Kouseki, and the entire forest.

This was her special ability, and was also the reason why she was feared, and can communicate with the wolf.

Down below, Naruto had just temporarily disabled Kakashi, holding him still for another Kage Bunshin to punch him. Akina focused on the area around the battle.

As Kakashi switched with another clone and hid, she used that little opening and cut the strings of the bells with wind, since he had appeared below her. Unfortunately, he noticed the loss of the weight on his waist, and hastily grabbed them and disappeared.

The Naruto clones continued to beat each other up (one was not, as he had seen the strings cut themselves and was gaping; it had the same effect on Sasuke, though to a lesser degree).

Akina whispered the word "Dispel." into the wind, making it seem like it was coming from everywhere before moving positions.

Naruto caught the word and did so, revealing that he was by himself.

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Akina reappeared in a tree nearer to Sasuke, still connected to the wind. She cut the rope to the trap surrounding the "fallen bell" so that Naruto could pick it up. Kouseki appeared behind her and nudged her.

Kakashi had managed to take the bell before Naruto, now pondering the mysterious cuts on his strings and ropes. He lectured Naruto on traps before disappearing.

The girl tensed and ran to change positions. Then, she stopped, and turned around to face Kakashi, who had followed her.

"Why did you drop? Give up?"

She shook her head. "Can't outrun a jounin." There was no error in something that logical, he supposed.

He put away his book, somehow knowing that he wouldn't have time to read it now.

Akina got into a fighting stance, with her left foot slightly extended, and her body turned to the side. Her arms at her sides were relaxed.

The jounin raised a delicate silver brow. _A blind girl fighting in taijutsu?_

They stood waiting there, facing each other. Kouseki watched in the shadows, since she knew where Sasuke was (in a tree watching) and where Naruto was (tied to a pole for trying to steal a lunch).

Kakashi shrugged before making the first move.

He charged, aiming a punch for her head. She tilted her head to the right at the last minute and flipped him over her. She chucked a few shuriken at him before following. Kakashi did some mid-air acrobats and landed, blocking the chakra powered palm thrust with he left arm.

His arm started hurting like hell. Narrowing his eye, he dodged the second thrust before kicking Akina up into the air. He mentally examined his wound and found that her attack was a little like Tsunade's freakish strength and the Jyuuken combined. It attacked the nerves, muscles, bones, and chakra ways.

Up in the air, Akina made 6 hand seals, ending in Tora. _Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu (Fire style: Grand Fireball)._ She breathed in and released the fire ball, aiming it directly towards the clearing she just "left".

Sasuke's eyes widened as he watched Kakashi use Kawarimi to avoid being burned to a crisp. The fireball was the same size as his.

Kouseki had appeared beside him in the tree again (he idly wondered how she got up in the first place) and nudged his arm, trying to get him to team up. He waved her off, wanting to watch more and solve the puzzle that was Akina.

Kouseki glared before jumping down to distract Kakashi from Akina. She howled and lunged for his chest area, jaws open.

He dodged and kicked Kouseki away. _This girl...she's holding back...she doesn't look remotely tired, even after pulling off a move that was above the genin level..._

Kouseki, standing back on her paws, growled before fleeing, making Kakashi realize that Akina was no longer with him.

Sasuke saw an opening and let loose a barrage of shuriken before moving positions. Kakashi skillfully dodged them all, until he heard another set of the spinning weapons coming towards his head.

_A trap...!_

He jumped backwards, right when Sasuke reappeared and aimed a punch for his head. He caught it, and used his other hand to catch Sasuke's second punch. While still in midair, the prodigy twisted himself and tried to kick Kakashi's head, which was blocked by a hand after letting go of a fist.

Sasuke smirked inwardly and reached out to grab a bell while Kakashi was busy holding his arm and leg, but the elite ninja noticed and leaned out of the way right when the tips of his fingers touched the bells. He threw Sasuke back and disappeared from view.

The young Uchiha cautiously scanned his surroundings. _Up? Down? Left? Right?_

A pair of hands burst out from underneath him, only to grasp air after a black blur pushed Sasuke out of the way. The two genin skidded to a halt on the other side of the clearing. Sasuke looked up after recovering from his fall to see a hand offered to pull him up from none other than Akina. A mutual understanding was finally formed between them when Sasuke took the hand and got up. They both got into their respective fighting stances, side by side, getting Kakashi's interest as he stared at them. As one, they leaped forward, Sasuke trying to trip Kakashi by aiming at his legs, while Akina used her smaller form to attack Kakashi's upper body.

Inwardly, Kakashi was impressed. This was makeshift teamwork at best, but it served it purpose for now.

Sasuke saw Kakashi distracted and kicked the back of his legs, moving to restrain their sensei. Akina noticed the sudden shift in positions and reached for the bells. The jounin struggled, but found another body keeping him from moving. Something orange caught his attention in the corner of his eye.

_Naruto...! How did he get out?_

A jingle brought his attention back towards Akina, who had dangled them in front of his face, right when the timer rang in the distance.

Kakashi smiled again. "Meet at the stumps." He used Shunshin to reappear at their meeting place, leaving the genin hopefuls to walk.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

The genin sat in front of Kakashi, who was eyeing them all carefully. He let his gaze linger on Akina a little longer.

_I'd better keep an eye on her and talk to Hokage-sama…_

"All right, Akina. You have the bells. Who's gonna have them?"

She threw a bell towards Sasuke and put the other bell in Naruto's hands, somehow making this exchange without the characteristic ringing of the bells. Both looked slightly confused.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Akina shrugged. "Their dreams."

"Okay then! To the stump!" He took out a roll of rope and moved towards Akina, tying her to the middle post.

"Now...on to the test's results..."

Naruto scowled, getting a bad feeling.

"You all fail."

"WHAT!? WHY!?"

"Because you didn't find out the true meaning behind this test! Did you have any idea _why_ we put you on _three_-man teams?"

The boys frowned as they recalled what Akina had told them.

"That's right! Teamwork! Although you did show cooperation with Akina-chan here, you did not _all_ work as a team!"

He managed to cool his temper down. "I'll give you numbskulls one last chance." He threw 2 bentos towards Naruto and Sasuke. "You two get lunch since you have bells. Don't give any to Akina, since she doesn't have a bell. Remember…my word is law."

He disappeared, just as Kouseki padded into the clearing with a newly caught fish in her jaws, courtesy of the river under the red bridge. She stopped in front of the kids, looking at them all and taking in the situation. She lay down in front of them and started to eat. The boys followed her example, though Naruto did so hesitatingly.

After about 5 minutes of nervous eating, Naruto finally growled in frustration. He clenched his chopsticks, then offered some food towards Akina.

"Here! I can't eat in front of you like this."

Sasuke looked up from his lunch, and did the same, though he was looking away. Akina tilted her head in confusion. Kouseki stopped eating to watch with interest at how well Akina was acting. "You can have my food, too. I can't sense Kakashi anywhere and we don't need you slowing us down from hunger."

Akina gave them both a soft, tiny smile (Naruto's jaw dropped slightly, since he's never seen her smile before, even around Kiba) and took a bite of food.

Suddenly, dark clouds appeared over their heads and thunder clashed. In a poof of smoke, Kakashi appeared, looking enraged and leaking out a little killer intent.

"YOU…!"

Sasuke, Naruto, and Kouseki all tensed, ready for battle.

"...pass."

Naruto fell back on his ass in surprise. "Why…?"

"You are the first team to show team work. All the other teams I received were mindless drones that only followed my orders and went against each other."

The jinchuuriki pointed at the nearby monument. "Hey Kakashi-sensei, what's that?"

The extremely random comment didn't seem to bother the shinobi. Kakashi walked towards a large obsidian stone jutting out of the earth like the tip of a kunai. He stared at the stone. "This stone is dedicated to the heroes of Konoha."

Naruto jumped up and pointed excitedly at it. "THAT'S IT! I wanna be on that!"

"…they're all KIA."

"That sounds cool!"

Akina frowned a little. "K.illed I.n A.ction."

The mood immediately sobered, and Naruto sat back down, saddened.

Kakashi traced a few names on the stone. "This memorial is dedicated to the men and women who died to protect this village…my best friends' names are carved on here."

He about-faced and looked sternly at his new team. "Those who don't follow the rules are trash…but those who don't protect their comrades are worse than trash."

Naruto's eyes filled with admiration. "That...that was kinda cool..."

Kakashi smiled. "Okay! Tomorrow we'll meet up here and go to receive our first mission as Team 7! Congratulations!" He gave them all a thumbs up.

Naruto grinned in triumph. _One step closer to being Hokage!_ Akina wriggled a little, cutting the ropes that bound her with a small burst of chakra burning it. Sasuke even let out a small smirk.

As a group, they all walked towards the village, towards a new life as an official team.


	3. True Potential

Alright then, it's March 6, 2008 for me here, and I'm going back and correcting all of the grammar mistakes and spelling mistakes. There will also be very minor changes—so little that you people who are completely up to date (ie. Chapter 14, at this time), will probably not notice it.

Seeing the Truth's chapter lengths will gradually get longer from this point on—YAY!

And even though this is a more recent AN, I'd still like to thank UchihaHaruka64 for being my very first reviewer! I heart you!

_August 22, 2008:_ Yeah, I'm just going back and fixing a few glaring mistakes and miscalculations on my part. So flames aren't really appreciated at the moment, seeing as I'm still in the process of re-editing the story. This is my _second freaking story_, people! And my first story with an actual plot-line, at that! Who the hell tells newbies to go commit suicide for that?!

... ...yes, I've just had my first true thoughtless flames, which made no sense. If you really don't like the story, then don't read it! Is it so hard to push the back button, people?!

**Warning: AU coming up soon.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto in any way, shape, or form...except my Naru scarf, which I luff. It's soft and I can rest my head on it at school.** ... ... ... no, I'm not sleeping, I swear!

"Talking"

_Thinking_

("Animals talking")

* * *

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

**:;Seeing the Truth;:**

**Chapter 3: True Potential**

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"Did you need me Hokage-sama?"

Akina and Kouseki stood in the Sandaime Hokage's office after many long and dull D-rank missions. Sarutobi had called her in for a small meeting after capturing the runaway cat, Tora, for the 9th time that week.

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully and pondered over how he should put the purpose for this meeting into words.

"First, I want to congratulate you on graduating the Academy…though, you could have done that sooner…" started the Third. Akina shrugged indifferently. They'd gone over her lack of motivation before. It wasn't anything new. "And so," he continued on, "as your highest commanding officer, I want to evaluate your skills as a ninja."

Kouseki and Akina stayed silent, now knowing why he called her here. Since Akina was a ninja of Konoha now, and not a citizen, she was obligated to listen to her commander, the Hokage. She gave a small, curt nod.

"Several other high-ranking ninja and I will be reviewing your skills. Meet us in Training Area 1 tomorrow at 1 pm."

Akina saluted to Sarutobi. "Hai, Hokage-sama."

With that, she turned and left. When the door closed, Kakashi melted from the shadows of the room, looking at the place where Akina had stood not moments before. "Hokage-sama, how strong do you think she is? She's clearly not genin level..."

Sarutobi sighed and rubbed his temples. "Honestly? I don't know, Kakashi. She's never shown her true strength. Akina-chan has been able to hold her own against rookie jounin level ninja that were after her life, for whatever reason, until ANBU arrived to restrain them..."

"Sou ka?..."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"Training's over for today, team. You all get tomorrow off..."

Sasuke and Naruto were on the ground, laying down and panting after having a spar with Kakashi to improve their team work. Since they were rivals (and took every chance they could to argue) this didn't work too well, and they got beaten, to say the least; especially since they had the best ninjutsu specialist in the village as their sensei.

Akina was sitting in a nearby tree, having been practicing her tracking skills with Kouseki. The two boys thought that she needed to improve on tracking since she was blind, but the girl knew otherwise. Kakashi wanted to give her a break until her "test" with the higher-ups (which would most likely include Kakashi), and Akina gladly took advantage of that opportunity.

Getting up, she motioned towards the shadows of the trees for Kouseki to come out, before walking in the direction of the other training areas. A yell interrupted her, and Naruto ran up from behind her, having gotten all of his energy back (Sasuke had gotten up, though more slowly).

"Oi, Akina-chan, where ya going?"

Akina inwardly grimaced. She hadn't prepared for questions from her team mates. She thought that Naruto would leave her be, since she disappeared often anyways, but apparently not.

Suddenly, a hand descended upon her shoulder.

Kakashi smiled towards his students. "She's coming with me. I wanted to show her something that'll help with her little...er, disability."

Naruto frowned, then nodded, grudgingly accepting it. He brightened up, however, at one of his thoughts. "OKAY! Akina-chan, can I come over tonight for dinner? I'm a little out of cash after...well, yesterday."

Kouseki nodded safely as she remembered the day before. ("Ah, yes. Naruto truly is an endless stomach...where _does _he put it all?")

Akina nodded, to both of them. Naruto grinned brightly, having not understood Kouseki like how Akina could, and half-hugged the girl from the side.

"THANKYUU!"

He let go and ran towards his apartment, smiling all the way. Kakashi watched and made sure that both male genin were gone before speaking to Akina, his hand still on her shoulder. "I'll take you to your little 'test'."

The wolf put her paw on Kakashi's foot, looking like she was scowling. ("Yo, scarecrow, what about me?")

He looked down and seemed to get the message, since he had raised dogs as a kid and ha to have at least some understanding of their body language. "And Kouseki, too."

She grinned. ("Good scarecrow.")

The jounin made the hand seals for Shunshin no jutsu, making them all disappear in a burst of ninja smoke, reappearing in front of the people that were to evaluate the girl.

They were: the Hokage himself (of course), Kakashi (he went to stand by Sarutobi), an ANBU (it looked like he was the ANBU Commander, since his cloak was a beige color, signifying at least Captain rank, and he was the only ANBU here), and the two council elders: Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu.

The Sandaime Hokage smiled at Akina and Kouseki. "It's nice of you to join us here, Akina-chan, and getting Kakashi to get here on time, too."

Said ninja scratched the back of his neck sheepishly at the mention of his bad habit.

Sarutobi's former team mates looked at Akina with calculating eyes. This was the girl that he wanted to discover more information about? The blind nature girl? He had said that they might uncover something good for Konoha.

Koharu cleared her throat, signaling the start of the test. "Takamaru Akina, first we must see how much chakra control you have. We will start with simple tree-climbing to water-walking." Akina nodded. "Try your hardest and begin."

Kouseki padded to sit next to Sarutobi, since she wasn't needed for this part. She eyed the ANBU Commander. If he was here then they wanted her to join ANBU. These people were the highest ranking people in the village for a reason, so Akina had no choice but to show her at least part of her full potential, since they could spot when she was holding back.

Akina calmly walked up a nearby tree as if it were nothing to her. When she neared the top, she back-flipped off of the trunk, and onto the lake, where she landed as if the water was really earth. The girl walked back towards the small group of ninja to feel the Hokage's aura spike with slight triumph. He's finally get to see what Akina was truly made of.

The ANBU Commander nodded in satisfaction, then stepped in front of the much smaller girl. "Next we must test your taijutsu skill. Refrain from using genjutsu, ninjutsu, or weapons."

She took the stance that she had used against Kakashi in their little face off in the bell test, but this time she would not hold back. Her sensei made sure to pay attention to how she fought this time. This was a pretty general fighting stance, as it could be used for both defense and offense for many fighting styles.

The Hokage looked at both ninja, seeing them ready for their little spar. "Ready? Hajime!"

Akina stayed still and waited for the Commander to make the first move, since she was the one being tested. She might as well be tested on her defense first. He seemed to get the message and charged forward. Kakashi had an odd sense of deja vu, except from a different point of view.

A well-aimed punch came at her stomach. Akina turned to the side last minute and kneed his stomach before flipping him and moving a distance back, going back into her stance.

The ANBU got up and nodded. He wasn't going full out anyways; he wasn't allowed to. He was actually surprised that someone that was blind could do this well in taijutsu. However, that was just genin-level taijutsu. How would she do with chuunin-level?

He disappeared with a blur of speed. Akina made no move and instead listened to the wind and earth, relaxed. She suddenly jumped to the right, dodging an axe kick made by the ANBU. She landed and rebounded back.

They met in the middle and exchanged a few kicks and punches, all of which were blocked or parried by the other. Eventually they both backed off.

Kakashi observed with a critical eye. She seemed to have at least chuunin-level taijutsu, but that was expected since he had experienced her fighting first-hand. Rookie jounin-level was next.

This time, both combatants blurred out of existence, meeting in midair high above the clearing. Chakra circulated throughout Akina's body as she sent multiple palm thrusts towards the various pressure points around the older ninja's body.

The ANBU Commander, seeing the potentially damaging hits, diverted the paths of all the palm strikes away from his body. He used his own chakra to create a skin-tight shield against the split-seconds where their skin touched—and even then, he could feel a faint tickle.

This fighting style was not meant to be blocked.

The Commander kicked Akina away before landing and distancing himself, now having a better understanding of the girl. Akina, who had blocked the kick, did the same.

"That's enough." Both ninja turned their heads towards the Hokage, their reasons for doing so the same. They both had something blocking their ability to show that they were paying attention—the mask and the hitai-ate over the eyes.

They nodded and and Commander walked over to rejoin the group. As he did so, Akina was keenly aware of the unblinking gazes from both council members. She couldn't see it, but she could feel it. She pushed the tension away and faced the Hokage, whose pleased aura had increased.

"Next, you must place a genjutsu, if you have any, on Kakashi, who can break through it with his Sharingan if it gets to that point. This genjutsu must show your level of mastery," announced Homura. He turned towards the Hatake. "Kakashi. When you feel the genjutsu taking effect, give us a signal. Let the girl see it through as far as possible."

Afore mentioned ninja stepped a little away from the others and his student. Akina sifted through her slightly smaller knowledge of genjutsu (compared to her taijutsu and ninjutsu know-how) and finally decided which was her strongest. She then did something that no one expected.

Akina pushed up her headband, revealing a pretty face, with her eyes closed.

With a speed that once again surprised almost all those present (though they didn't show it at all, spirit aura or not), she made about forty hand seals in a couple of seconds, holding the last one, the Ram. _Magen: Rosuto Mikomi no jutsu (Demonic Illusion: Lost Hope). _She opened her eyes, revealing a dull, pale mint pigment. Her sensei's attention went to her eyes, as he'd never seen them before, knowing all too well that it would cause him to fall prey to the coming illusion.

Suddenly, as the name would have revealed had it been spoken aloud, Kakashi's mind brought up several darker thoughts. Absentmindedly, he motioned towards those observing, taking care to gradually raise the force of the resistance against it.

A bloodied black haired ninja, his body crushed between several jagged boulders, a smiling girl with reddish-brown hair, a dark forest, a pure white tanto, tainted with blood. Kakashi's body tensed, and he repressed a flinch. _This...this genjutsu...very effective...it makes me want to kill myself, just to make it stop...my friends...my comrades...my family...they have all passed on...what's the use of living if I can't be with them? Sensei...Obito...Rin... ... ...father._ He eyed the kunai pouch, as if longing to use it.

The other ninja looked on with interest at the desperate look in Kakashi's eye. The genjutsu seemed to be very effective. If she could use this long-distance, then she could make the enemies kill themselves without ever getting into any danger. The only flaw was that she would never know if they were looking in her eyes or not, seeing as she was blind.

They sensed chakra being used, but only because they could sense chakra even if it were being concealed with ANBU-leveled skill. Otherwise, they wouldn't have known that an illusion had been placed on the Hatake. When Kakashi put his hand on his kunai patch, however, they knew it had to stop. Kouseki, having watched, was interested in seeing the small girl use her skills without any limits again.

"Akina."

She didn't need to be told what to do. Akina lowered her hands and released Kakashi from the illusion. He blinked before realizing what had happened. He looked at Akina to see that she had covered her eyes again.

Walking back to the crowd, he pondered over her jutsu. It didn't use as much chakra as he thought, for such a strong illusion. It wasn't just simple mind-manipulation, though. He realized with a start that it made him re-live and think deeply about the worst moments in his life, and added her own emotions of despair into it. She had transferred her own feeling of hopelessness into his mind.

In other words, the more sad or hard the user and victim's lives were (plus their grief and despair over it), the more powerful the illusion.

The Hokage smiled at Akina, who didn't look at all winded, as she hadn't used too much energy or chakra so far. "Okay Akina, now we need you to use ninjutsu that shows your skill level, then we're done here."

Akina inwardly smirked. Believe it or not, her favorite ninja field was ninjutsu, even if she seemed better at taijutsu.

She walked towards the middle of the clearing and emptied her mind, relaxing her tense body. She checked over her chakra and circulated throughout her body. She breathed in and out.

A few seconds after, she started to breath out fire as she exhaled. No hand seals had been made. The chakra in her body converted to fire and started to twist around her small body like a tornado. She made a fist. The fire (the color looked far too much like blood to be real fire) started to twist around it, taking the distinct shape of a dragon.

She cocked back her fist and punched, shooting the dragon. As it flew, it got bigger and bigger until it was about half the size of Gamabunta, the toad boss. It passed by numerous trees, instantly turning them into ash. When it finally reached it's target, a boulder in a clearing a distance away, she jerked her fist backwards and it hit, causing a massive explosion that must have reached clear across Konoha and completely obliterated the pile of rock.

By now Akina was panting a little. _Kazan no Ryuuki (Volcano Dragon Spirit)._

The utter destruction of that move had alerted many of the ANBU in the area, and they gathered around the edges of Training Area 1, a 2.5 mile diameter area, unable to actually enter due to special seals in place along the boundaries. The chakra still lingered in the air, though it was masked from the concerned ANBU. But as they did not sense the familiar feeling of death, so they left, though reluctantly. It was the Hokage's personal training ground, after all.

"I think that's enough for today," said Koharu, in a clear voice—strong, for someone her age. "We will have your results tonight. Someone will be sent to fetch you."

With that, all of them but Kakashi and Kouseki poofed away in various bursts of smoke. Kakashi stayed because he had wanted to talk to his student, and Kouseki because she wouldn't have left her pup. And even if she did want to leave, she didn't have hands to make the seals to use Shunshin no jutsu anyways.

Akina soon recovered after a few more seconds, composed herself, and calmly walked over to her sensei and partner.

"That was...amazing, Akina. How come you didn't fight like this before?"

Akina lifted her shoulders in a light shrug. Kouseki was grinning, already knowing her answer, which was quickly becoming known as her trademark phrase. "I didn't feel like it."

Kakashi sweat dropped and sighed in exasperation. _Why can't she be a little more like Naruto...? The possibilities are endl—_ A sudden image of Akina jumping around and begging the silver haired ninja to teach her a cool jutsu came to mind. _Scratch that thought...never mind._

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"AKINA-CHAN!"

She looked towards her right to see Naruto just exiting his door (which was right across from hers). Kouseki whined playfully at the orange-clad genin.

("What about me? No hello?")

He blinked and looked down (not too far though, since Kouseki was large for a wolf), and noticed her. "Oh, and Kouseki-chan, too, I guess." She barked happily, causing him to grin again. "So, what's for dinner? I'm really hungry!"

("You're _always_ hungry, bakayaro...")

Akina unlocked her door and held it open for her team mate, not bothering to respond. He took it as a "You'll see..." and walked inside, plopping himself on the beige couch, while Akina went with Kouseki into the kitchen to go cook them all dinner.

He looked at the coffee table in front of him to find a fox kit and a wolf cub playing checkers and promptly sweat dropped. That was an odd sight, but it wasn't too uncommon in Akina's apartment. There was a reason she was nicknamed the "Nature Girl" at the Academy. She always had all these animals around her.

He watched as the kit started to lose , and you could tell it was unhappy because it was snarling and glaring at the board. He grinned when it tricked the wolf pup into looking away so that it could change the board.

Naruto tried to muffle his snickers when the cub looked back to see everything messed up. It glared at the kit, who was pointedly looking away like it hadn't been doing anything, and changed everything back. The red-furred kit gaped in horror and then proceeded to pounce on the gray pup, knocking it onto the floor.

Before the fight could escalate (in the background, Naruto could be heard yelling "Fight! Fight! Fight!"), the smell of what Akina was cooking reached their sensitive noses. They all realized how hungry they were and forgot all about the scuffle, making a dash towards the kitchen/dining room.

On the table was a small feast (a very hard thing to make when you were as poor as these two orphans were) of fried rice, ramen, honey-roasted ham, and mashed potatoes with gravy.

The guests (a hungry Naruto, fox kit, and wolf pup) and the hosts (a slightly annoyed Kouseki and a calm Akina) sat at the table (the pup and kit sat on the table, since they were so small), and clapped their hands (or paws) together in thanks for this meal.

"Itadakimasu!" ("Itadakimasu!")

With that, all 5 of them dug in, at their own paces (Naruto had immediately grabbed all the ramen, while the fox and wolves reached for the ham). Luckily, Akina had foreseen this, and made more of those foods instead, while the plates of fried rice and mashed potatoes were for herself (though in all respect, these were big, too, since Akina seemed to need just as much food as Naruto for some strange reason).

The jinchuuriki had noodles hanging out of his mouth when he popped her a question.

"Hoy Akima-cham. Hair hih u het ahh esch (food flying) foo?"

Kouseki glared at Naruto. ("Don't talk with your mouth full, boy.")

The two animal children snickered behind their paws. ("Busted!") they chorused.

Naruto quickly swallowed and repeated his questions, translating his food-in-mouth language. "Oi, Akina-chan. Where did you get all this food?"

"She keeps a garden in the forest that the animals help take care of," said a voice from behind the fox child.

Kouseki and Naruto turned to look at the two new arrivals: Kiba and Akamaru.

"Konbonwa—Kiba, Akamaru," greeted Akina in a low, polite tone—as always.

The dog boy grinned and hugged Akina from behind before taking his seat. "Hey you guys!"

Naruto waved at Kiba before digging into his ramen again. Since Kiba was kind of like Akina's big brother, he also had a key to her apartment so that he could come over whenever he wanted.

As the meal went on, Naruto and Kiba argued and bantered over several different topics (which included who was stronger right now), eventually leading to a brawl, which the rest of those eating didn't bother to break up.

This was how dinner was usually like at Akina's apartment.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Far away in the Hokage's tower, the Sandaime and Kakashi were both thoroughly amused at the dinner table scene. They had used the crystal ball to check in on how Akina was doing, but didn't expect to see animals at the table, Kiba and Naruto arm wrestling, and Akina doing nothing to stop it.

"We'll send for her after her guests are gone."

Kakashi agreed with this decision.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

("I think that meal went pretty well,") commented the wolf as she stacked up the dirty dishes with her mouth.

Akina nodded and continued to wash the dishes.

Kiba and Naruto had left a while ago, claiming to need sleep for extra training tomorrow. The fox kit and wolf pup were on the couch sleeping. They'd gotten permission from their respective families to sleep over at Akina's "den".

A knock came at the door. Kouseki sniffed at the air and smelled chuunin-leveled chakra. She padded towards the front door and opened it, since it had a piece of cloth tied to it to allow animals to open it as well. In front of the door was one of the Hokage's chuunin assistants.

He blinked when a very large wolf answered the door. "Ano, is Takamaru Akina here?"

Kouseki scoffed, then nodded. Akina was well known for having her as a partner. He must not pay attention to gossip. ("What the hell do you think, ningen.")

"She's needed at Hokage-sama's office ASAP." With that he turned and used Shunshin to leave.

The wolf sat and waited for Akina to finish up and come, since she was sure that the girl had heard the entire conversation. She came and they both walked outside, locking the door. Kouseki put a paw on Akina's foot as she formed the seals for the jutsu that the chuunin had just used.

_Shunshin no jutsu._

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

They both arrived right inside Sarutobi's office to see the ANBU from before, Kakashi, and the Hokage waiting for them. All those present were, by now, not surprised by Akina's level of skill when she appeared using the universal transportation jutsu. Kakashi just greeted her with a smile, and Sarutobi a nod.

Both the girl and the wolf bowed in greeting.

"Takamaru Akina. From the results of the test that you went through earlier today, we have concluded that you are around high chuunin level to rookie jounin level, and are to go the ANBU Training Center part time until you become a chuunin. At chuunin rank, you will be assigned to an ANBU team, and will start being observed for signed of jounin rank qualities and accomplishments worthy of being promoted for," announced the ANBU, confirming that he was the commanding officer of the ANBU. He stepped forward and gave her a bag with the standard ANBU uniform and a blank ANBU mask, the only features it had being the number 55 in blue ink on the right cheek.

Kakashi smiled again, knowing full well that the one that he was directing it towards couldn't see it. "Training for my genin team will be on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Missions will be on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. You will be going to the Training center every day that we have missions, plus Sunday. Do you understand?"

"Wakatta (I understand), Kakashi-sensei."

The ANBU nodded, satisfied with the new member, and left. The Hokage cleared his throat. "Akina-chan. Kouseki will naturally not be going to the Training Center with you since that will give away your identity. Is there any animal that can come to help you?"

Kouseki tilted her head as she thought of all of the animal clans in the more wilder parts of Konoha that could help her pup with identifying colors.

She immediately ruled out the squirrels. The purpose of being an ANBU was to protect the village from the shadows. She didn't need a little rodent's chattering risking Akina's life.

And the snakes, as much as the help was appreciated, would attract too much attention, since the famous traitor Sannin Orochimaru was a snake user. Anko was the only other known snake user in Konoha, and judging from the type of attention she has from the ninja and civilian populace, it wasn't a good idea.

Dogs and wolves would be a no. They would think she was an Inuzuka, and when they ask around and find out she wasn't, then they will immediately know that it was Akina.

Kouseki sighed as the list of animal clans went down to birds and cats (fox were a big, big, big no-no, even if they were really friendly with Akina). Takamaru meant "hawk-dog" in Japanese, so if she brought a bird she would be found out.

The vixen looked up at Akina and saw that she had made the same conclusion, even though her body language and aura didn't show it. Raising the girl would do that.

"A cat." ("A cat.")

Sarutobi nodded. "That's a good idea. There is a clan of cat users in Suna, so you can pose as a girl that was banned and left here in Konoha. When you get into an ANBU team, you are required to reveal your identity, so it won't be a problem. Just choose your new "partner" wisely."

Both nodded and turned to leave.

"Just hold on a minute Akina-chan," called out Kakashi. She stopped and turned her head to the side to let him know she was listening. "I'd just like to say congratulations, and that I'll be making your excuses." He smiled from beneath his mask when he saw Kouseki grimace. Akina nodded and the two left using Shunshin.

Kakashi turned towards his superior. "Well I think that's enough excitement for one day. I'm turning in. Good night, Hokage-sama."

He nodded, and when Kakashi left, he looked back into the crystal ball to find Akina and Kouseki deep in the forest outside of the village (though it was barely inside the village borders).

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

("Of course we'll help!")

Akina and Kouseki had just finished explaining their situation to the clan of mountain lions that lived somewhere behind the Hokage monument. The animals around Konoha were so friendly with the animals because 1) she could communicate with them and 2) she helped them whenever they needed it. She'd babysit or help out when humans come into the picture.

A young cub bounded out of the cave and rubbed her head against Akina's legs. She bent down and scratched behind her ears. The kitten growled happily.

Sitting in front of her den was her mother, and the mate of the current head of Konoha's mountain lion clan.

("This is my second oldest daughter, Kyoukoumune. She is the most responsible of my litter and can take care of herself, though I trust you to watch over her...?")

"Hai."

The mother nodded, satisfied, and turned towards her little cub (who was about the same size as Akamaru). ("You be good with Akina-chan, okay kit? You'll be coming home half of the week, so don't worry.")

("Hai, okaa-sama!")

Kouseki, Akina, and Kyoukoumune bowed, then left by Shunshin.

("Be safe...")

* * *

Kyoukoumune strong will.

Please review people! Some vital plot elements just fell into place right here, so make sure to remember a few things from this chapter!


	4. Secrets Revealed

Okay! Fourth chapter revision! Phew! Anyways, I just had a thought. Why do we put disclaimers in the beginnings of the stories, if the disclaimers are already in the name of the site itself? FAN_fiction. _Hmm. Ah well, I'm putting it up anyways, just in case.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Warning: Slight AU later on in the story, though it's already an AU, since Sakura no longer exists.**

"Talking"

_Thinking_

"_Telepathy through mind jutsu/seal"_

("Animals talking" / _"Telepathy with animals"_)

* * *

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

**:;Seeing the Truth;:**

**Chapter 4: Secrets Revealed**

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

The sound of metal clashing with metal echoed throughout the clearing as the genin continued their three-way spar. All had multiple cuts (courtesy of Kouseki and Akina), burns (Sasuke), and bruises (Naruto and his Kage Bunshin).

Kakashi was happily reading his Icha Icha Paradise book on a nearby log. He wasn't really needed in this training exercise and was fully intending to use that fact to his advantage. Besides, he trusted Akina to keep the sparring under control and not let the two rivals kill each other.

Every once in a while, temporary teams between two genin would form during the spar. But it was always with Akina.

Silently, Kakashi debated on how he should correct this problem after it got stuck in his head. Friendly rivalry was good for improvement in skills, but sometimes it went too far…Wait! He had an idea! He chuckled darkly at the expressions he would see on his team's faces when he showed them.

A grunt from Sasuke told him that the plan that Akina and Naruto had formed to beat him had worked.

Snapping his book shut, he got up and walked over leisurely. "Okay...that's enough training for today. Missions are tomorrow until 12. Don't be late!"

Before Naruto could yell at him to "Take his own advice!", the jounin had disappeared. After a few seconds, a low rumbling was heard in the distance. Sasuke looked in that direction with detached interest. Naruto was cocking his head and he squinted his eyes in that direction.

Out of the rustling bushes came a bear cub, bounding its way over to Akina, who had kneeled down to receive it. A short stretch away was an extremely large brown bear, looking at them with watchful eyes. The Takamaru got up and bowed to her before picking the cub up and cuddling it.

Kouseki trotted into the forest after watching the exchange. Akina readjusted her grip on the baby before nodding towards her teammates. "I am watching over Kuma-chan in the deep forest today." With that, she went in the direction Kouseki went. Naruto shrugged at this before turning to bug Sasuke, who immediately scowled and trudged off towards the village.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

("Did I do good, onee-chan?")

"Hai, Kuma-chan."

The three were walking towards the back of the Hokage Mountain, where many animal clans resided. There was a meeting between them today, and Akina was to attend.

Kouseki smiled and rubbed the cub's nape affectionately with her snout as a reward for giving them an excuse to get out of there. The small bear giggled before chasing after a butterfly that happened to be going the same way as them.

"Kouseki." The wolf _hmm_ed absentmindedly as she watched the young kuma tramp around the path they were walking. All around them, the animals were gossiping about the Konoha-wide animal council meeting that was to take place. "Why do you think they called me?"

("Dunno.")

The lie came easily to her, though it did make her feel uncomfortable afterwards; lying to someone wolves considered a pack member was against their code unless it was extremely important.

And this was important.

All the animals in Konoha that had been around when Kyuubi attacked could sense that he was still alive. They in turn passed that knowledge to the second generation, until Sarutobi had passed the law forbidding this information to the younger generation. The council elders agreed with the ningen, and did the same.

Kouseki had been much younger when she was told of the demon kitsune's fate, right before it was forbidden.

The animals weren't stupid; they can hear how badly they talked about Naruto. Thankfully, only some adults were brave enough to get near enough the ningen to hear this, so the secret didn't spread.

("Otou-chan!") the cub bounded up towards its father, who was waiting near the entrance to a hidden cave.

The larger bear (even standing up, Akina was still shorter than the bear when he was on all-fours) nuzzled his cub before nudging it towards a female bear, who looked to be his care-taker for now. The young one got the idea and ran over.

He turned back towards Akina (who bowed in greeting to the Kuma Clan Head) and nodded, walking with the girl and Kouseki into the cave, which turned out to go downwards. It started to get darker and darker as they went down, but it didn't bother them at all, since all three of them didn't need to rely on sight to get where the wanted to be.

Suddenly they exited the tunnel into a large chamber that looked like an underground forest. Roots from the large Konoha snaked its way downwards along the walls, but it still looked secure here. It had to be, since it was used as an emergency shelter for the animals (and the occasional shinobi who got lost and came here), and for Konoha's Animal Council meetings.

A large tree grew from the exact middle of this forest, and that was where they were heading. They arrived to see (or sense) at least one of every kind of Konoha's animals here, sitting on and around the tree's branches or roots.

All chattering stopped when Kuma's Head sat down in his spot in the semi circle. They all faced Akina, who sat down in the traditional position with her feet tucked beneath her and bowed to everyone. Kouseki did the same.

A large panther, from the Panther Clan in the Forest of Death, cleared her throat, gathering the attention on her.

("We have called a meeting on this fine autumn day to discuss young Akina's new situation, and to reveal some more important that we should have told her long ago.") No arguments came, so she continued speaking. ("Little Akina, please tell the Council your new role in the ningen's life.")

"Hai, Kurohyou-sama. I am now an ANBU trainee in the ANBU Training Center. **An**satsu Senjutsu Tokushu **Bu**tai. It is a special force of elite ninja that protect the village from the shadows and carries out the much harder tasks and missions."

Some animals murmured with each other, but the more battle-hardy just nodded at this noble rank their little ningen friend had earned.

("Will this interfere with your duties as a Guardian?") asked the Head of the extremely large clan of Usagi.

"Hai. This new training will take up much of my time, but Kouseki will take my place, since I cannot have her with me unless I want to be revealed."

This seemed to calm the animals down. Kouseki's loyalty was well known, especially since she was a wolf. The interesting thing was, however, that Kouseki was also not from Konoha. She has yet to tell them where she comes from, but they trusted her to tell them when the time was right. Her aura was different from theirs, yet comforting.

("Speaking of revealing...") started an owl. He looked at Kouseki with his unblinking eyes. She nodded before padding around Akina to sit in front of her. Akina turned to face the wolf.

("This is an S-class village secret, in both the ninja village and ours. No word of this shall escape this meeting,") stated the wolf, in an unusually serious tone. Akina nodded.

A red fox took this opportunity to trot its way forward, next to Kouseki. ("Akina-chan. What do you know of the Kyuubi no Kitsune?") she asked.

"12 years ago on October 10th, we were told that the Leader of the Demon Fox Clan, a Kyuubi no Kitsune, was defeated in battle by the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato," said Akina, rattling off the facts presented by the chuunin-sensei.

("Lies.") The line of Akina's mouth tilted downwards, but she didn't seem too surprised. After all, she was just as aware of the world around them as the animals themselves. ("This Kyuubi no Kitsune was too strong to be defeated by ningen. The blond one had to seal him with the help of Shinigami, the Death God.")

A sudden image of a large demon with red skin and white hair appeared in her mind. She frowned some more. She hasn't seen colors since the day after she had been found by Leaf-nin. And back then it had been the same image flashing through her head through the sea of darkness she was accustomed to.

Why was she imagining these things? Or...was it something else?

("The bijuu was sealed inside a jinchuuriki; a ningen who had just been born was used.")

A cheerful, yet somehow sad laugh popped into her mind. "Uzumaki Naruto."

The fox blinked before nodding. The answer had come instantly, and there seemed to be no fear or malice in the child's voice.

("Correct.")

It all made sense now. The cruel laughter; the whispered conversations; the hatred. Akina had been blind since birth, that much she could remember. But in the place of her sight, she had been able to sense people's spirits and their auras. It had always kept her safe. And it helped her see past Naruto's mask of happiness. There was always a sad aura surrounding his being, whether he was laughing or grinning. And now, after learning his secret, the respect she had for her teammate grew. To be able to withstand all the hatred and still be able to smile, no matter how fake it was, was amazing.

The fox took her silence as acceptance and went back to its spot in the semi-circle. Kouseki smiled faintly, proud of her little pup for not being like the ignorant humans.

The bear cleared his throat, emitting a loud growling noise. ("Akina and Kouseki. That is all we need of you for now. Thank you for coming. Dismissed.")

They bowed towards the council (they all either smiled, grinned, or nodded back), and left for home.

Tomorrow was her first day at the Training Center.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Akina walked through the main streets of the village, successfully ignoring any fearful glares sent her way and avoided knocking into anyone, creeping out the villagers even more. Kouseki walked three steps behind the girl, keeping a watchful eye out for anything wrong.

She was deep in thought about the meetings she had just left. It wasn't the information she received that bothered her; it was what happened during the explanation.

It wasn't a genjutsu that was for sure. There was absolutely no reason for it to be one.

Akina was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't notice Kiba and his team approaching, with the dog boy and his companion up in front, hollering and barking at her.

"OI! AKINA-CHAN!"

Shino raised a silent eyebrow at his former classmate's behavior. She was usually extremely sensitive to everything around her, despite being sightless. Something must be bothering her.

Kurenai and Hinata walked behind the boys. Hinata seemed a little worried with the girl who had treated her equally and didn't look down on her.

Kiba stopped directly in front of Akina, blocking her way. Akamaru barked questionably before hopping into Akina's arms, surprising her a bit.

"...Nani...?"

Akamaru barked happily before licking her face in greeting. She scratched behind his ears for a bit before hugging the small white dog close, nuzzling him gently.

"Konnichiwa, minna."

Kouseki nodded at the jounin before smiling at all the "kiddies", as she so fondly called them. The rookie jounin nodded back, silently observing her team interact with the other genin.

"YO!"

("Hey!")

"Konnichiwa, Akina-san."

"K-Konnichiwa..."

"Is anything wrong Akina-chan?" Kiba came over and felt her forehead before frowning at the younger girl. The other girls smiled at the big brother attitude he got around Akina. "The idiot and the bastard aren't bugging you are they?"

She shook her head. They weren't bothering her. Too much was happening these days that was all. But what could she tell him? That Naruto has a 150 meter demon sealed inside his stomach, she's an ANBU in training, and she can suddenly _see_ visions of the Shinigami?

No thank you, she'd rather not make Kiba stutter like Hinata for the next few hours.

Kiba didn't look convinced, but he accepted it, for now.

They all chatted for a few minutes before departing for their separate destinations.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

("Konnichiwa, Akina-neechan!") greeted the young puma cub as she was approached by a short ANBU that smelled like the earth after it rained. It was a pleasant, natural scent.

Akina nodded, still not used to wearing the uniform. ANBU did not receive their cloaks and tattoos until they were assigned to the squads, so she was stuck wearing just the bare armor in the middle of autumn, when the winds started to pick up in Konoha.

She bent down and made some hand seals, causing right hand to glow an eerie purple color. Kyoukoumune started at the hand without fear, trusting the girl to not hurt her. The hand touched her forehead briefly before the glow faded away.

_Kokoro heisetsu no jutsu (Mind link jutsu)._

"_Kyoukoumune-chan. This telepathic connection will help us communicate temporarily. It'll last for only twelve hours."_ With that, Akina led the way out of the forest.

Kyou nodded before bounding after the girl, towards the training center, which was located near the Hokage tower. This meant that it was also located near the forest where she lived, so it was no problem waiting for the young Takamaru.

They arrived at the tower without a problem (while making sure to conceal themselves), though they were given curious looks from those in the Center. They haven't had an ANBU (or even an ANBU in training) that young-looking since Itachi. Thankfully, they didn't recognize Akina since she had put her hair up in a bun with senbon, leaving her bangs free.

They went up to the receptionist in the main lobby, who looked up and stared at the number on the girl's mask. "Hmm, Number 55. Go to Enkou-sensei's room in E34."

Akina briefly tilted her head down in thanks before turning to walk to the classroom.

(_"Enkou...flame...someone I don't think he'll be one of those kind-hearted sensei..."_)

"_It's just a codename, Kyou-chan. All ANBU are given code names and proper masks upon graduating..."_

They entered a room full of older shinobi, all idly chatting or patiently waiting for the sensei to come. All had the same mask as Akina, but with different numbers.

(_"Onee-chan! They are seated in number order. Number 55 is to sit in the very front row, next to he guy that smells like sweat and dirt."_)

Akina tilted her head before taking in all the scents in the front of the room. She made her way over to the man (Number 54), attracting everybody's attention as she walked. It was inevitable, she supposed. She _was_ the shortest one there, and she was walking around with a little mountain lion kitten.

Whispers erupted, forcing Akina to remember the streets of Konoha. She frowned behind her mask before sitting down next to Number 54, a tall man with brown hair and a natural tan. He looked at Akina, and Akina 'looked' at him, both silent.

He extended his hand for a shake. "Number 54, but you can call me Kenshiki—pride."

Akina took the hand and shook it firmly. "55. Yogiri—night fog."

He chuckled. "You don't talk much do ya?" She shook her head, letting Kyou jump onto her desk. "That's all right. Everybody's nervous here. It's actually kind of funny. A little kid like you is calmer than half of the ninja in here; and they're most likely twice your age!" he laughed heartily, lightening up the tense atmosphere that was surrounding the room. Some other ANBU-to-be's grumbled good-naturally, but otherwise didn't say anything.

The door slammed open with a bang, revealing a man with a glaring red bird mask, who strode into the room, the noise level immediately becoming nonexistent at his appearance. When he reached the front, his mask swept its gaze over everybody in the room, forcing several people to suppress shivers. It was like he was judging your self-worth.

"My codename is Enkou, as you should know by now if you had half a brain. You will all call me Enkou-sensei, or sir. NOTHING else. Got that, rookies?" Everybody nodded or murmured their acceptance. Enkou folded his arms, and the ninja in the room got the distinct feeling that his real expression now matched that of his mask. "I said: GOT THAT ROOKIES?!"

"SIR, YES, SIR!"

"Good."

(_"I get the feeling that we'll be having an interesting time here..."_) came the rather dazed thought from the young mountain lion, who was looking at their new sensei with something akin to shock.

In return, all she got was a sound of agreement.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Three days later, the two had adjusted to the hectic and brutal training, and were, to say the least, dead tired. Kakashi had noticed, being as perceptive as he was, and chuckled inwardly. He remembered his own training, which didn't happen to him until he was a teenager, and even then, the training had been cruel and unusually punishment.

Of course, Naruto and Sasuke didn't notice. Akina hid it too well, and the 'training' she got from Kakashi didn't burn out her energy as much as they thought. She only let her lack of energy reveal itself after a certain amount of 'training', to continue the act.

He watched discreetly over the edge of his book as the three kids continued the exercise. Two people were to throw kunai at the third while that third member was sparring with a kage bunshin (Kakashi's, or their own, in Naruto's case).

Akina flinched slightly as Kakashi hit a bruise she got from ANBU training on her chest. She overcame the pain and caught an incoming kunai from Sasuke, swiping at her sensei's head before bending backwards to dodge a flurry of shuriken from Naruto.

A timer rang, signaling the switch that happened every 15 minutes. It was now Naruto's turn to spar.

"YOSH! My turn!" He grinned and ran towards the middle of the clearing.

Over the last couple weeks of being on Team 7, Akina had earned the right to be treated the same from Kakashi and Sasuke, after proving that despite being blind, she could be just as good as regular ninja. She at least had grudging respect from Sasuke, as he shot a side glance at the girl before taking his position.

"Something wrong?"

Akina tilted her head. Sasuke didn't usually talk, like she did. To see him initiating conversation was surprising, but it relieved her slightly. Was the darkness in his heart not as deep as they thought?

"He hit a bruise."

He nodded at the answer before throwing a barrage of the sharp pointy things at Naruto, who looked slightly startled at the large number weapons coming in from Sasuke. He yelled out a string of obscenities before attacking the Kakashi clone, who was smiling (was that a smile?).

After a few more curses, the timer rang again. Kakashi clapped his book shut and put it away. "Training's over for today, guys, tomorrow is missions. Meet at the tower as usual…" He gave a cheerful wave before disappearing.

"It better not be those annoying D missions again! I _hate_ those!" grumbled Naruto as he got up. The other genin stayed silent, but he knew that they agreed internally.

* * *

Next up is the Wave Mission Arc, as you can see. I tried to make it more interesting, since I know that we've all read those at least 10 times (for me, it's more like 25, so I should know which parts are boring...).

R&R!


	5. Wave Arc Part 1

_August 22, 2008:_ Hi everybody! This is Lady Okori here, going back and re-editing things on my spare time (while I should be finishing up summer homework for my AP and Honors classes, shh!). I'm decreasing Akina's power and stuff like that...making things a little more...logical (in the ninja world?). Erm, believable. Yeah, there it is.

"Talking"

_Thinking_

"_Telepathy through mind jutsu/seal"_

("Animals talking" / _"Telepathy with animals"_ )

_'Miscellaneous things such as signs, ANBU sign language, letters...'_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

**:;Seeing the Truth;:**

**Chapter 5: Wave Arc – Part 1**

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

("Do I have to?")

An exasperated sigh. ("Yes.")

("But I don't want to go back! THIS IS ANIMAL CRUELTY!")

Mission Number 39; capture. Target: Tora. Client: The Fire Country Daimyo's wife.

Success.

Team Seven was currently getting assigned their next mission. In the background, they could all hear a cat yowling and a woman squealing loud enough to crack glass.

The Third Hokage browsed through the D-rank mission scrolls. "Alright. The next missions for Team Seven are: digging up potatoes, helping shop for groceries, babysit—"

"NO!" Naruto crossed his hands and shook his head furiously. Iruka, who was sitting next to the Hokage and helping out with the mission assignments, could have sworn he even heard a buzzer.

Sarutobi stopped at the interruption to find Naruto ranting about boring missions.

"NO MORE BORING MISSIONS! WE'RE NOT EVEN GETTING ANY STRONGER! WHERE'S THE FUN; THE EXCITEMENT? I WANNA SAVE A VILLAGE!"

Kakashi palmed his face and sighed, as if he weren't looking forward to a repercussion later. But on the inside... _Finally, one of them cracked! I was wondering how long they were going to put up with these...even I'm getting bored..._

Kouseki just rolled her eyes. She agreed with the boy, but the way Naruto had said it made it sound...whiny.

"Naruto..." started the Third, "the mission ranks are there for a reason..." Like how D-Rank missions are for promoting teamwork, for one. Not really any other reasons.

At this point, Naruto had zoned his lecture out and turned to chat with his teammates. He beckoned them closer. "Hey! Hey! So I was thinking later on tonight I can have chicken flavored ramen for dinner, but I ran out, so—"

"HEY!" All five turned to look at a fuming Sandaime Hokage, who was glaring at them from behind the desk. "Were you even listening?"

Kakashi sweat dropped and scratched the back of his neck. "Ah. No, sorry Hokage-sama..."

Sarutobi sighed deeply. "Naruto-kun, the missions' ranks are very important and—"

"Oyaji! I'm not some trouble-making kid anymore! I'm a full-fledged ninja, and I have a hitai-ate to prove it!" He completely shattered this serious argument by looking away and pouting.

The older man just chuckled as Iruka started scolding the orange-clad ninja for disrespecting the Hokage. I mean, come on, who else calls the most revered person in the village "old man"?

"Alright."

Both the chuunin and the genin stopped mid-yell and looked at the Third with wide eyes. "W-What?"

He smiled at Team Seven before taking out a yellow colored scroll. He flicked his gaze over a few mission specs before nodding at one in particular. "Your first C-rank mission is to escort Tazuna-san back to the Wave Country. Please call him in."

An ANBU that was hidden in the shadows (undetected by all but Kouseki, Akina, Kakashi, and the Hokage) went to fetch the man, who came in through the door, drunk and carrying a sake bottle. He hiccuped before eyeing the much smaller ninja in front of him.

"These brats are going to be protecting me? They don't look like ninja! Especially the two shrimps."

Naruto laughed at whoever was being called a shrimp before all three lined up. Sasuke was definitely taller than both Akina and Naruto, but Akina had an excuse, being a girl and half a year younger. A vein popped on Naruto's head as he growled and lunged to kill the insulting old man. Kakashi caught him around the waist and covered his mouth as he started to scream curses and promises of death.

Kakashi leaned close to Naruto's ear. "Now now Naruto, we don't want to kill our client, do we? We won't get paid…"

Akina paid no heed to the insult as she examined Tazuna. He seemed extremely tense for some reason, and she could really smell the adrenaline coming off of his body. She decided to test something out. "Three genin, one jounin, and a ninja wolf should be enough to protect you against thieves, Tazuna-san. It's not like you'll be risking your life traveling there…"

Tazuna flinched slightly and started sweating a bit before he chuckled. "A-Ah, no. 'Course not!"

This aroused some suspicion in all the ninja paying attention, but they all pushed it away until they had more clues as to why.

"Maa, maa...meet at the north gate in one hour."

All the genin nodded before leaving, with Tazuna following them out.

"Akina." Both she and Kouseki stopped and walked back to the Hokage. Sarutobi was stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Keep an eye on Tazuna. He's up to something."

She just nodded and left.

Iruka was puzzling over why he told Akina of all people to watch over for suspicious acts, but chalked it up to her being able to sense more of the subtle things than most people.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Akina frowned as she irritated another injury she had gotten in the last few days while training in the ANBU Center.

Kouseki picked up another pack of explosives and put it inside her young charge's ninja pouch. Next to the beige colored pouch was a hawk that had come to visit his guardian. The bird eyed the bruised leg before it was covered with some bandages.

("How long are you going to be gone for, hatchling?")

"About a month. Gomen nasai."

He nodded. As a bird, it was his duty to spread the message to the council. This was bound to happen sooner or later, but the animals were prepared. After living in a ninja village for as long as they have, you couldn't help but have to become stronger just to survive.

("Hiroki. What have you heard of the Wave Country?") Kouseki was curious about their destination. The situation called for investigating.

The bird seemed to frown. Akina kept on packing her stuff, but they knew she was listening anyways.

("Wave Country? I have heard during my hunts that there was much killing and corruption there. My brothers of the sky warn others to be careful when in those lands. The name Gatou comes up frequently, in a bad way.")

The vixen nodded at this new information. It was interesting, to say the least. Akina zipped up her bags and put them on. She tightened her headband over her eyes before moving towards the door. Both animals followed her (the hawk rode on Kouseki's back, since there was so little space to fly).

When Akina opened the door, Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke, reading his little orange book.

"Akina-chan. Hokage-sama excused you from the Training Center, but you have to train on your own while we're gone." He smiled and handed her a small scroll with the Konoha ANBU insignia, which she stuffed deep into her backpack. He tilted his head at the hawk before leaving with a happy wave.

("What is so good about that bright colored book for him to never let go of it?")

Both Akina and Kouseki stayed silent, one contemplating on how they should answer this awkward question.

("It's…not for pups…") she said, carefully choosing her words.

The bird blinked.

"Pornographic romance novel."

It made an "Ah" sound before taking off towards the Hokage Mountain.

The wolf groaned a little. ("Blunt to a fault about everything, aren't ya, pup?")

She shrugged. "You were going to have to explain it sooner or later..."

The beast sighed in response, not bothering to explain tact to the slightly ignorant girl. She may be a child prodigy in the ninja field, but she was still an 11 year old girl in experience with socializing.

("Never mind...")

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Akina, Naruto, and Kouseki walked together towards the gate, forced to pass through several of the main streets in town. Since they were both the scapegoats of the village they gained a lot of glares and curses. Akina didn't used to be hated, just feared, until she started hanging out with Naruto; she didn't mind, as much as Naruto kept apologizing for it after he found out the truth.

Naruto kept on a grinning face as they came close to the edge of the village, though the younger ninja could tell that his aura was saddening as time went on.

"A C-Rank mission...," murmured Akina, tilting her head to the side as if thinking deeply about it.

He instantly brightened up at the topic. "Hell yeah! No more gardening or dog-walking for at least a whole month! And we even get to go out of the village! It's my first time, too!" Kouseki smiled at Akina's way of cheering her teammate up. They neared the gate to find everyone there already. "Is it your first time outside, too?"

Akina tilted her head again as she thought back into her past. After about 5 years, her mind went blank, as it always did when she tried to remember. "I don't know."

This seemed to dull Naruto's cheerfulness a bit as he remembered his friend's amnesia. Sasuke and Tazuna were staring at the two as they reached the group, having heard the conversation.

"Yosh. Now that everyone's here, we can leave." Kakashi went back to reading his book and taking the rear, letting the rest of the people to go on ahead a bit.

A brown hawk that looked exactly like the other hawk that had visited earlier circled overhead before swooping in to land on Kouseki's back. It clicked its beak at Akina in greeting before getting comfortable.

The elite jounin looked up from his book before shrugging and ignoring it. He's seen stranger things. Like Gai. Now that was strange.

("Good morning Aki-chan! I'll be going with you on this mission! Elders' orders!")

Akina nodded to show that she accepted the new companion, never turning away from the front of the formation.

Kouseki grunted a little in greeting at the female hawk. The other was male, and happened to be her brother. Their names were Hiroki (the male) and Hiromi (the female), and they were also very close to the girl.

Tazuna looked back and raised an eyebrow at the strange sight. A bird riding on a huge wolf's back walking next to a human and looked to be chatting with it. He looked questionably at Kakashi. "Are you sure I can depend on this little girl here? She's even blind-folded! What kind of ninja does that?"

He once again peeked over the edge of his book and was about to reply before Naruto burst into the conversation.

"Hey! Akina-chan is as good a ninja as the rest of us! And it's not her fault she's blind!"

This time, both eyebrows went up. "_Blind?_"

Akina, Kouseki, and Hiromi were quiet as they half-listened to the conversation. Someone had to keep watch, right?

"A blind ninja?" He sounded skeptical. They started to walk by a puddle in the middle of the road.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Tazuna didn't seem to notice. Akina tilted her head a little towards her sensei. He just shook his head in answer to the silent question.

Kakashi started to intentionally lag behind, leaving Akina and the two beasts in the middle of the separated group. The water in the puddle shined abnormally, and a hand with a gauntlet rose from its depths.

Two nuke-nin quickly came out of the puddle and wrapped their chain around a surprised looking copy-nin.

"One down."

With that, they yanked on the chain, cutting the shinobi to bloody ribbons. The Kiri missing-nin charged at the rest of the group, but the chain connecting them was suddenly pinned to a tree with a shuriken and kunai.

Sasuke appeared between the two and kicked them apart. The chain broke, separating the brothers. One went for Naruto, who was frozen stiff, and the other at Tazuna.

Akina appeared in front of Tazuna in a blur of speed, knowing that Kakashi had gotten the information he needed. Sasuke saw this out of the corner of his eye and deemed her strong enough to protect the old man. He ran towards Naruto, who was still staring wide-eyed at the incoming ninja.

Suddenly both ninja disappeared, and reappeared, knocked out, in Kakashi's arms. He was smiling at the genin.

"Good job everyone. These two were called the Demon Brothers; missing ninja from Kiri." Kouseki and Hiromi rejoined Akina at this point. The silver haired ninja cast a stern look at Tazuna. "You have some explaining to do, Tazuna-san. These ninja were after _you_. This is not a C-Rank anymore. It just became a B-Rank, and it's out of our jurisdiction."

Tazuna sighed, knowing he had to explain now or else they would leave him. He explained the situation with Gatou and the Wave Country, going into a guilt trip that had everyone sweat dropping at.

The jounin looked at his team. "Well? Do you want to continue?"

If Hiromi had a mouth, she would have been frowning. B-rank already? This was certainly _not_ expected.

Sasuke's Uchiha blood started to boil at the thought of fighting more ninja like the Demon Brothers. He immediately agreed.

Akina had no problems with it either. She could probably handle it, and if worse comes to worse, she'll have to show her true strength. Hopefully it won't come to that. She nodded and tilted her head in question at Naruto, who had been unusually quiet up until now.

His head was down, and he was trembling. His fists were clenching as he thought about the battle they had just fought, and how he couldn't be anything other than a burden. His hands turned white from the pressure.

Tazuna started to wonder if the brat was okay.

Naruto raised his fist before punching the tree he was next to, creating an indent. He growled and looked up with determined eyes. "I will not run away! We'll keep going, no matter what! I sweat it!"

The wolf grinned at his positive attitude, and the hawk chirped happily; that is, until they smelled blood coming from his fist where he hit the tree.

("Really. I get his point, but did he really have to punish the tree?") drawled out Kouseki, as she eyed the bleeding hand. Hiromi sighed lightly.

"Naruto...," started Kakashi, "That was cool and all, but if you let your hand keep bleeding like that...you'll die."

He _eep_ed before looking at his bleeding hand, full of splinters, in horror. Sasuke and Tazuna just shook their heads at the blond.

Kakashi came over and looked at Naruto's out-stretched hand. Why wasn't Kyuubi healing him like before? He then saw all the splinters up close. They were pretty deep.

"Neh...K-Kakashi-sensei? Is it okay?"

He looked up. "Hmm?"

Naruto gulped. "You looked really serious just now..."

The jounin smiled and shook his head. He beckoned Akina and her animals friends over with a wave of his hand. They complied.

Akina's head was currently turned in the direction of Naruto's hand, where the scent of human blood was flowing from. She could smell the essence of a demon inside the blood, but it was barely noticeable, and only because she had actually been looking for it.

"Akina-chan." She tilted her head in question at the sound of her sensei's voice. "Can your friend help me pick out all the splinters?"

She gestured at Hiromi to come over. She shrieked in response and landed on Akina's arm. The talons didn't affect her at all. Akina lowered her arm until it was at a level where Hiromi could pick out all the splinters, though it would cause him some pain.

As the splinters came out, the wounded areas immediately started to heal. Those who could see (Kakashi, Hiromi, and Kouseki) watched in fascination. The smell of blood was starting to dissipate now that the source of it was closing up, so the blind one knew what was happening.

_Hmm…I guess the fox really doesn't want to die._ He glanced over at the other three. How should he explain this to them? There was a law against letting them know of the jinchuuriki.

Akina felt Kakashi's gaze and instantly knew why, considering the situation. She twitched her hands a little bit, signaling the start of an ANBU conversation in hand signals. He noticed and didn't know whether to feel proud that she already knew the sign language or worried that she wanted to talk to him in private.

As the splinters came out, Akina made the small message, keeping Sasuke and Tazuna from seeing it with her body. Kouseki blocked it from Naruto.

_'We know already.'_

_'How?'_

Her shoulders rose and fell in a small shrug, indifferent. It gained Naruto's attention through the pain, distracting him further from her hands.

_'The blind can see more than you think.'_

With that, she ended the conversation and walked back towards the others, leaving a pondering Kakashi with a fully healed Naruto. He didn't bother asking how she knew which hand signs he was using even though she was blind. Everyone had their ways of doing things. _I have to tell Hokage-sama when we get back..._

Sasuke lagged behind with Naruto, letting the others go on ahead. He smirked at him. "Are you okay...you scaredy cat?"

Naruto scowled, narrowing his eyes. "What was that, teme?"

The smirk grew with superiority. "Just don't get in my way later, dobe."

He growled, but forcefully restrained himself from punching the Uchiha's face in. They had a mission to finish, and they couldn't do that with one of them badly injured.

A bark from Kouseki broke the tension. ("Oi! Hurry your little asses up! We need to get to the old man's house!")

They reached a boat and climbed in, rowing through the thick mist. Hiromi seemed uneasy, since her usual sharp eyes were dulled by the mist, and she couldn't fly. The bridge came into view, causing Naruto to almost yell out in awe. And he would have, too, if not for Akina placing her hand over his mouth and Kouseki laying one of her huge paws on his head. The man rowing the boat sighed in relief.

"Kid, don't do that! Why do you think I'm rowing and not using the motor? We want to stay hidden or Gatou's men will find us and kill us!" he hissed out, cautiously looking around.

Naruto gave a muffled "Gomen", taking both the hand and the paw off of his person.

They got dropped off and started towards Tazuna's house again. Kakashi was still reading his book, though he was spreading his senses out. _The next fight will be with a jounin; an elite ninja…it won't be easy like with those chuunin…but at least I have Akina here to keep the others safe if it gets that bad__..._ He stole a glance at the girl, seeing her body relaxed, but ready for battle. She must have come to the same conclusion.

Naruto was looking around suspiciously, kunai in hand. He whirled around and chucked a few kunai into the bush, making everyone tense up. "OVER THERE!"

("EEK!")

Hiromi sighed before hopping off her perch and landing next to the frightened white rabbit. She cast a knowing glance towards it before pulling out the kunai that were trapping it and giving them back to Naruto, who immediately cuddled the rabbit, crying.

"Ahh! Sorry, Usagi-chan!"

("A white rabbit should only be around in the winter,") said Kouseki, for Akina's benefit. Even if all canines were color-blind, they could at least tell when something was white.

Both caught the scent of two foreign ninja before the heard a _whoosh_ of something being thrown.

"GET DOWN!"

Sasuke pulled Tazuna down with him while the others hit the deck.

A giant sword was embedded a nearby tree. A ninja appeared on top of it, his Mist headband swaying in the breeze. A scratched headband. "Copy-nin Kakashi...no wonder the Demon Brothers failed."

Said ninja nodded before putting himself between the missing-nin and his students and client. "Zabuza I presume?"

He chuckled. "I'm flattered that you know my name. Now move. I need to kill the man. I have no business with you."

Kakashi shook his head. "I can't let you do that...Naruto, Sasuke, Akina, Kouseki! Manji formation around Tazuna!"

"Hai!" They formed a protective square around Tazuna, with Akina in the back. Since she couldn't see, she might as well. Hiromi perched on the tree next to them, ready to take off and assist if she was needed.

"I guess I'll have to get serious…" he grasped his headband. This sound got Akina's attention. Was he going to reveal the Sharingan already?

("I smell another enemy,") muttered Kouseki.

Akina did, too. In a tree a hundred yards away was another person. He smelled like medicine and ice, though it was hardly noticeable with all the mist.

Zabuza lifted his Kubikiri Hochou onto his back before jumping onto the middle of the nearby lake. He formed a hand seal. "Kirigakure no jutsu (Hidden Mist)!"

The denser mist started to roll in, obscuring everyone's vision. Sasuke thought of the irony of the situation. It seemed that the only one not affected by this was Akina, since it was always like this for her—even worse, actually.

Kakashi lifted the headband from his left eye, revealing a red eye with 3 spinning commas.

The Sharingan.

* * *

Alright then, people. I'm pretty sure that the name of his humungo sword is Kubikiri Hochou, or something to that effect. If not, please correct me, cite your sources, and I will correct it. I've gotten a few 'Yeah, that's right's, but I'm gonna keep this up here anyways, just in case.

Read & Review!


	6. Wave Arc Part 2

_March 9:_ I really should be studying and doing my homework, but I can't resist revising everything and fixing my previous mistakes!

_August 22, 2008:_ More fixing! Repeat! (scrunches up face, wincing)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

"Talking"

_Thinking_

"_Telepathy through mind seal/jutsu"_

("Animals talking" / _"Telepathy with animals"_ )

_'Miscellaneous things such as signs, ANBU sign language, letters...'_

* * *

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

**:;Seeing the Truth;:**

**Chapter 6: Wave Arc – Part 2**

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

With the mist surrounding the small group, they could barely see Kakashi, who was standing right in front of them.

("Hiromi. Keep an eye on our little spy,") came Kouseki's order.

("Wakatta (I understand)!")

A wave of killing intent washed over them, causing the less experienced to shiver. The feeling was terrible. It chilled them to the bone and made them want to run for their pitiful lives.

"**Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart...8 points that kill instantly on contact...which one should I choose?"**

Sasuke squeezed the handle of his kunai hard as he felt two energies fighting for supremacy. _What an intense thirst for blood...One breath or one eye movement could be detected and get me killed...that is the atmosphere I feel...If I stay here for an hour I'll lose my mind! The murderous intent of two jounin clashing...the feeling that my life is in someone else's hands...It's almost too much to handle!_

A pulse of soothing chakra lessened the blood lust and enabled them to see Kakashi more clearly again. He smiled at them all, trying to ease them a little. All who could see caught a glimpse of the matured Sharingan before he had closed his eyes in that smile. The Uchiha's eyes widened at the sight.

"Don't worry, I won't let any of you die."

Zabuza appeared in the middle of the formation, with his sword already in position to cleave their heads off, to live up to the name of Decapitating Head Cleaver. "Are you sure you can keep that promise?"

Metal hit metal as Kakashi appeared in front of him, blocking the much larger weapon with a kunai. The force of the movement knocked back the others, who skidded to a halt at the edge of the road. The silver haired jounin stabbed Zabuza's stomach with another kunai.

Water leaked out of the newly punctured stomach. Zabuza erupted into a puddle of water.

Naruto gasped. "A clone!"

Another Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi, with his sword resting on his shoulders. "Die."

He swung his sword, cutting Kakashi in half. Kakashi's eyes widened in shock and Zabuza smirked in triumph.

Until the copy-nin turned into water.

Zabuza felt the blade of a kunai knife against his neck.

"It's over."

Naruto cheered from the sidelines as all of them got up. Sasuke allowed a smirk to grace his features.

"...You copied the Mizu Bunshin, even through the mist. The Sharingan truly is amazing."

The jinchuuriki scowled. "Sharingan? What the hell is that?" Sasuke recovered from his shock long enough to explain it to him.

"The Sharingan. A blood line limit that manifests in the user's eyes. A doujutsu. It allows the user to see through all genjutsu and ninjutsu, and see the opponent's next move. That's not all. By seeing the way the chakra is manipulated, those with the Sharingan can copy techniques in an instant and send it back at their opponent." _But it only manifests in a few select people of the Uchiha clan! Could he be...?_

The mist shifted behind Kakashi, and yet another Zabuza was already swiping his Kubikiri Hochou at Kakashi as the other Zabuza disintegrated. Kakashi ducked the swing and took the opportunity to slash at Zabuza's midsection.

He dodged and punched Kakashi into the water.

The jounin got up, soaking wet, and feeling heavier than he should be. _Why is the water so dense? Wait...!_

"Bad move, Kakashi." Zabuza appeared behind the other ninja and formed a few hand seals. "Suiton: Suiro no jutsu (Water Release: Water Prison)!"

The water around the Konoha jounin morphed into a large sphere, trapping him inside. Kakashi mentally berated himself for a moment. _I was careless! I fell for a simple bunshin!_

Zabuza formed another Mizu bunshin, which fingered the handle of his own sword and looked at the old man. "And now to finish the job…"

"Run! You can't defeat Zabuza! He's too strong for you! Get Tazuna and run!"

The boys both scowled at their sensei. Naruto shook his head and voiced their thoughts. " 'Those who don't follow the rules are trash, but those who leave their comrades are worse than trash.' Right Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi blinked. _Naruto...when did you grow up?_ "Don't be foolish! You're just genin!" _Technically, this is true, though you can't show your true strength here..._ "You'll be killed!"

Naruto just grinned and looked at Tazuna. He sighed and shrugged. "You kids do whatever you want. I got you all into this mess. Go get your sensei back."

The boy's grin widened, and he was about to charge, but Akina grabbed his arm before he could leave. He made a questioning noise at his teammate. "Team work—you and Sasuke."

They looked at each other, then Akina, then back. Nods and determined expressions were exchanged before they both charged off at the clone together. Kouseki grinned at the two before adjusting her position around Tazuna to cover up for the loss of two guards.

("Aww...the boys are getting all grown up...I think I'm gonna cry...") she did a mock sniffle before giving out a bark of a laugh.

Sasuke took the lead and threw a group of shuriken at Zabuza while running. They were all blocked with a lazy swing of his sword, but Naruto took this chance to create his Kage Bunshin and send them into attack.

The clones surrounded him and took turned swiping kunai at different parts of his body. They were about to be destroyed when he got distracted by a chakra powered bark from Kouseki. Akina added to the distraction by throwing a few kunai at both the clone and the real Zabuza, who was calmly watching from the water's edge.

Sasuke and a Naruto added to the incoming rain of metal by throwing some of their own kunai and a couple demon wind shuriken, leaving Zabuza no choice catch one of the large shuriken and use it to block some of the other weapons, dodging others.

One of the kunai that he dodged erupted into a puff of white ninja smoke, revealing a grinning Naruto, who caught an incoming kunai and threw it back at Zabuza.

The other ninja was still in midair, after pulling off a series of dodges. He tensed. If he let the kunai hit him, he was dead. But if he let go of the water prison, then Kakashi would be free.

The kunai was approaching quickly, and Zabuza decided to take his chances. He took his hand out of the prison and jumped out of the way. The missing-nin growled and was about to throw the demon wind shuriken he was holding at the boy, but his wrist was caught in a firm hold by none other than Kakashi.

"Not so fast."

Kakashi grabbed Zabuza's arm and threw him farther into the lake, away from the others. Sasuke switched places with Akina, who took out a ninja wire, tying it to a kunai. She went to the edge of the water and threw it towards Naruto.

He scrambled to catch it, before being pulled in by Akina. She spread chakra throughout her muscles, strengthening them. With an almighty pull, Naruto flew out of the water, towards land, just in time to avoid the two Suiton: Suiryuudan no jutsu (Water Release: Water Dragon Blast) that the jounin had released on each other.

"ACK!"

He panicked for a second before his training kicked in. Naruto flipped and landed upright, though a little bit off balance from the flight out of the water. Akina untied the kunai and put it away, rolling the wire around her arm just in case. Naruto panted a bit, but before he got to thank the girl, a huge wave of water rose up from behind him, thanks to Kakashi's Suiton: Daibakufu no jutsu (Water Release: Great Waterfall). The genin jumped up to the tree tops while Sasuke and Kouseki helped Tazuna get away from the sudden tidal wave.

Zabuza hit a tree, where the water crushed his body as it rushed past. Several kunai pinned him to the tree, and Kakashi appeared in the tree branch above, with another kunai in his hand. The swordsman coughed out some water and blood. "H-How? Can...Can you see into the future?"

("Aki-chan! That other person is closing in fast!") screeched out the hawk as she flew towards them. Akina loosened the wire around her arm in preparation.

"Yes..." said Kakashi. "I see your death."

Two senbon pierced Zabuza's neck before Kakashi could even raise his kunai. A ninja wearing a hunter-nin mask appeared on a nearby branch from the same direction that the attack came from. "Yes, he did die."

("Senbon...? Well, he smells dead,") muttered Kouseki, as she approached the others. Akina inwardly frowned. His spirit aura was still there. He was still alive.

Kakashi nodded at the ninja before covering up his Sharingan and walking towards his team. Naruto glared at the other ninja. "OI! What'd you do that for!?"

His sensei sighed. "This ninja is a hunter-nin, Naruto—let him do his job."

Naruto's glare lessened at this statement, but it still stayed. Akina had given him a few pointers here and there while in the Academy, and frequently quizzed him on the shinobi ranks, saying that if he was going to be Hokage, he should know who he was going to be commanding.

This wasn't his problem with the ninja, though.

"This…This guy! He barely looks older than us, and he's able to take down a tough ninja like Zabuza without breaking a sweat! It…it makes us look like idiots next to him!"

Kakashi frowned at this. "Naruto...in this world, there will always be someone out there that is younger than you, and yet, stronger than me." _Takamaru Akina...you are an enigma to the eyes of the elite...I wonder how far she'll go..._

The hunter-nin nodded before appearing next to Zabuza's body. "I thank you for helping me catch this ninja. I have been after him for months and finally found him. Excuse me; I must be going now…"

He lifted up Zabuza's arm to take him away, but was stopped by Akina, who lashed out at him with the wire, using it as a chakra enhanced whip. He jumped away and tilted his head at the girl, who was still in a position to attack again.

Everyone sent confused looks towards Akina. "Akina…?" questioned Kakashi.

"Hunter-nin do not move the bodies," was all she said before whipping at the ninja again and throwing a shuriken at him. The hunter-nin dodged before blurring towards Zabuza's body, with Akina following hot on his heels. They met in front of the body, where Akina kicked Zabuza towards Kakashi and ducked underneath a swipe from a senbon needle.

The only conscious jounin frowned in frustration. He was out of energy from overusing the Sharingan, and couldn't help at all. He signaled at Naruto and Sasuke to help, and Kouseki and Hiromi to stay behind.

Sasuke reached the fighting pair first, not being dragged down by wet clothes, and helped Akina fend off the other ninja. Naruto created 5 clones to pick up Zabuza.

The boy behind the mask scowled. _I must protect Zabuza-sama! _He kicked Sasuke away before blocking one of Akina's kunai, stopping her attack. Three one-handed seals were made, surprising everyone.

"Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suishou (Secret Technique: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death)!"

A stomp to the ground raised groups of water that quickly froze into senbon needles. They flew at Akina and pierced her body in many places, pinning her to the tree like Zabuza had been just minutes before.

Akina winced inwardly as a senbon hit another one of her injuries. Keeping secrets like her true strength was such a pain sometimes…

The attacking ninja appeared in front of the Narutos (which had brought the body over to Kakashi) and destroyed them all brutally, quickly taking away Zabuza in a whirl of leaves.

Akina calmly made a one-handed seal while everybody but Kakashi and Kouseki weren't looking. _Tanuki neiru no jutsu (Feigned Sleep)._

Kakashi sighed and shook his head at the situation. Technically, Akina was supposed to be knocked out from both the pain and because some senbon went through her neck, but he felt her chakra pulse last second and change its direction slightly to lessen the damage.

"Sasuke, Naruto—bring us to Tazuna's house."

Naruto blinked. " 'Us' ...?"

With that, Kakashi fell to the ground in a heap, knocked out from chakra exhaustion.

"Damn."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Kakashi bolted upright, scaring the hell out of Naruto, who had been about to peek under his mask. Pain seared through his muscles, and he instantly regretted getting up so quickly. A cautious eye swept around the small room.

Next to him lay Akina, with the senbon taken out of her body, covered in bandages. Kouseki and Hiromi were sitting next to Akina, staring at the now conscious jounin.

Kouseki let out a snort. ("About time, scarecrow...now Akina can wake up.")

Sasuke was leaning against the wall near the door, which opened to reveal a pretty black-haired woman carrying a glass of water with Tazuna next to her. Both looked surprised to see the man up so soon.

"It's good to see you up, Kakashi-san. And only a few hours after you came, too! I'm Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter."

Kakashi nodded slowly and drank the offered water gratefully. He sighed. "It seems that the hunter-nin was Zabuza's accomplice...they will be back to finish the job." Tsunami gasped, but the others just nodded grimly. "We have about a week's time until Zabuza's injuries heal, so we'll be spending that time training."

Naruto cast a worried look towards his childhood friend. Kakashi saw this and smiled at her still body. "She'll wake up by tomorrow, judging by her injuries. Don't worry. She'll join us soon enough. Training starts tomorrow morning."

They all nodded, determined to get stronger.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

The first thing she noticed when she woke up was that her headband wasn't on. The other was that Kouseki was the only living thing in the room other than her. The wolf licked Akina's cheek in greeting.

("Mornin', pup.")

Akina nodded, touching the place where her eyes should be covered. They had been closed the whole time, but she would feel more comfortable if they were hidden.

Kouseki dropped the headband in her lap. ("The others are training in the woods today. The lazy scarecrow said when he woke up that you'd be with them by today, so I couldn't wake you up until now, dammit.")

She grumbled some more while Akina slowly got up and got ready to go outside again. The girl checked her body and found the injuries already healing. In the house were 3 other auras, and in the distance were 3 chakra signatures.

"Hiromi...?"

The other female blinked. ("Oh. She went to go report this to the elders and deliver a scroll from Kakashi.")

Nodding, she walked outside and down the stairs.

Tsunami was washing the dishes with the help of Inari, her son, while humming a tune. Tazuna was reading the newspaper at the table. He looked up at the girl descending the stairs.

"So, you're up. The others are outside."

Inari turned from his task to glare at the ninja covered in bandages. She looked weak to him.

Kouseki and Akina both sensed the glare, but brushed it off to go outside. The piercing gaze followed them as they walked outside.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

They found the team climbing trees, while Kakashi was reading his book, as usual. His crutches were leaning on the tree he was sitting under. He looked up from his book and smiled at the two. "Yo!"

The appearance of Akina distracted Naruto, causing him to fall to the ground on his head. Kouseki grinned. ("It's good to see the gaki training so hard...")

Akina made no comment.

The sensei waved at the two boys. "Sasuke and Naruto are walking up the trees using chakra, Akina. See if you can do it. Try not to strain yourself though, you're still healing…"

She nodded and felt Sasuke climb about 10 steps up the tree before losing control. Naruto reached 6 steps. Feeling she had enough "observing", she tried it herself.

Akina set a foot to a nearby tree, feeling the chakra automatically go to her feet. But for appearances sake, she had to take it slow. She calmly walked up the tree trunk, all the way to the top before sitting on the branch.

Sasuke and Naruto both looked surprised (and slightly jealous) at this feat. Kakashi didn't, having already seen and expected this. He grinned at the boys. "Hmm, the girl of the team's got the chakra control down. It seems the Uchiha clan isn't all that it was said to be. And I guess Akina is closer to becoming the Hokage than someone else I know."

This made determination filter into their eyes. They both ran once again towards their respective trees.

Kakashi called over Akina, and when she was next to him, he smiled and put a hand on her head, leaning in a little. To others, it looked like he was quietly complimenting the girl. "Akina," he whispered, "Now is the time for your ANBU training. I'll tell them that I gave you another exercise. Try not to kill yourself, okay?" He smiled brightly before lightly pushing Akina towards the deeper parts of the forest.

She walked until she was just inside the border of how far Kakashi could sense her, which was pretty far. It was a moderately large field of grass, perfect for training. She took out the ANBU training scroll from her pouch and broke the seal.

She sat down and ran her fingers over the words. This was how she read. Even ink made some kind of imprint or mark on paper, and with enough practice, she was able to feel it. Kouseki read it over her shoulder. ("Number 55 of class E34. Sensei: Enkou. We have been informed of your mission and have made the following training schedule for you, do not slack off, blah blah blah…")

Akina read the rest of the scroll silently, ignoring the comments like she usually did.

_Warm-up (time limit: one hour):_

_Wear 500 lbs of weights total on your arms, legs, and torso._

_Run 5 miles._

_500 punches and kicks with each arm and leg._

_500 slashes with sword using left hand. Switch hands and repeat._

_Stretch._

_Training (time limit: three hours):_

_Practice sword kata until perfected._

_Spar with your own shadow clone._

_Do training exercise 60D 10x._

_Do training exercise 85B 5x._

_Practice interrogation jutsu on shadow clone._

_Free training._

_Cool down (time limit: one hour):_

_Run 5 miles._

_Stretch._

_Study human anatomy._

_Chakra control exercises._

_Meditation._

The sides of her mouth twitched as she read "training exercise 60D 10x". Her sensei was cruel even when she was gone on a mission. Kouseki cocked her head.

("What's exercise 60D? It doesn't sound so bad…")

"A mile long training obstacle course."

("So?")

"30+ attacking Kage Bunshin, a couple hundred traps, kunai and shuriken, jutsu, 600 lb weights, blindfolded, attacking back forbidden."

("…Oh.") That must have been why she got all those bruises, and why she was always dead tired all the time. It must have been bad if she had to force Kyou to stay out of that exercise.

("And 85B?")

"An underwater combat exercise. 35+ Kage Bunshin attack in any way from above and below while you dodge and destroy them, keeping underwater for as long as you can."

("...and you have to do things like this everyday?")

"Hai."

("May kami-sama have mercy on you.")

* * *

Everyone is welcome to suggest training exercises for the ANBU. (smiles) Enkou-sensei needs to have his fun, too, right?


	7. Wave Arc Part 3

Alright, I'm almost halfway done with the revisions, then I can get on with the next chapter. It's March 16, 2008 for me, people! Let's hope I can finish correcting everything quickly, because I already have the chapter locked up inside my head! (grins happily).

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Warning: AU AU AU AU later later later later!**

"Talking"

_Thinking_

"_Telepathy through mind seal/jutsu"_

("Animals talking" / _"Telepathy with animals"_ )

_'Miscellaneous things such as signs, ANBU sign language, letters...'_

* * *

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

**:;Seeing the Truth;:**

**Chapter 7: Wave Arc – Part 3**

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

The door opened to reveal a worn out Akina, with one arm on Kouseki's back for support. She was covered from head to toe in cuts and bruises. Naruto and Sasuke followed her in, looking just as worn out, though with considerably less injuries.

Inari scoffed as his mother rushed over to help them towards the dining table. Akina plopped onto the chair next to Kakashi while the boys sat across from each other at the last two empty seats.

Kakashi looked up and smiled at his students. In the background, Tazuna was staring wide-eyed at the magically finished plate of food.

"Did you guys train well?"

Sasuke grunted and Naruto scowled. The question had brought up negative feelings. They would rather not talk about it. Kouseki sighed as Akina politely declined the food and settled for tea. Tazuna eyed a rather large bruise forming on the girl's arm.

"What happened to you? It looks like you just fought your way through an army."

The wolf yawned and curled up to rest for a bit. ("I guess you could say that...technically, he's right.")

Akina was about to shrug, but stopped when her muscles complained about the movement. "Training."

The man frowned. "The life of a ninja must be difficult if one so young has to train this hard just to survive..." he commented. 

Kakashi just smiled. "We manage."

Naruto stopped stuffing his mouth full of rice to look at Akina's injuries as well. "Oi oi! Akina-chan! What kind of training did Kakashi-sensei give to you? It looks really hard! I bet I can do it though…"

Sasuke looked up from his bowl, finally interested in the conversation. The girl frowned slightly at their curiosity, but she might as well tell them a half-truth.

"Evasive maneuvers."

From the looks of things, the training was hard, if Akina received that many injuries. After being on the same team as her, it was easy to tell that Akina used her smaller body as an advantage and was very quick on her feet and flexible. The traps must have been complicated to have Akina fall into them.

Kouseki stared at Inari, who kept on glancing sadly at a picture on the wall between bites. It was a family photo, but a man's head was ripped off. _The gaki probably misses that one guy…_

The kid excused himself after finishing his food, muttering about going to watch the ocean and getting away from annoying ninja. When he left, a screech was heard from outside. Kakashi looked outside to see Hiromi heading straight for a _closed_ window. He sweat dropped.

The canine let out an annoyed growl and rushed over to open the window with her snout, just before the hawk swooped in and landed on top of Akina's head, carrying a scroll in her beak. The girl made no move against the bird and drank her tea like nothing had happened.

The jounin took the scroll from the bird, who ruffled her feathers with a little pride at a job well done. He opened it and scanned the message, seeing Akina's name before starting from the top and reading the whole thing.

_'Kakashi,_

_This really is a problem. Your team isn't ready for this kind of mission. But I have an idea as to how to fix your little situation. I have a solo-mission for Akina-chan.'_

_Hmm, that doesn't sound too good...,_ thought Kakashi.

_'This is a B to A-rank mission. She is to find and, unfortunately, kill Gatou. I didn't want a child to kill so early, but the ANBU Commander insisted, saying that she would have had to eventually. We talked for a while and decided that, given the situation, Akina will be given her ANBU mask early._

_Use the seal below to summon her supplies._

_If you need back-up for any reason, there is a squad of ANBU just outside the border of Nami. They will be on stand-by until your mission is over._

_Sandaime Hokage (Hokage's Seal)_

_Sarutobi Daisuke'_

Kakashi sighed. Naruto blinked curiously at the scroll. "What did the old man say?"

The copy-nin just shook his head. "An ANBU squad is nearby, as a last resort. Other than that, we're on our own."

He fiddled with the ends of the scroll as the others returned to their previous activities. Akina stopped drinking her tea and focused her attention on his hands.

_'Mission.'_

Akina played with her empty tea cup and continued the conversation as Naruto argued with Sasuke over their training. Tsunami got up and washed the dishes.

_'Yes, sir.'_

_'B to A-rank. You are to receive your ANBU mask early. Meet at your training area an hour after dinner. Mission prep will be then.'_

Akina got up quietly and headed towards the door. The boys stopped bickering and looked at her questionably. With her hand on the door knob, she turned her head to the side and muttered: "Finish training..."

Naruto blinked. He'd never seen her so focused on training before. Usually she'd just do the bare minimum, like Shikamaru. Maybe his attitude rubbed off on her? Sasuke just took out his kunai to sharpen, paying no heed to the girl. Training meant that she was getting stronger, which meant that she wouldn't be holding him back.

Kouseki got up after a while, distracted by thoughts of the hidden conversation. Akina had brought home scrolls on the ANBU sign language, so the wolf got to study up on them, too. She knew exactly what they were saying, and followed the girl out to give her some not so silent moral support. Hiromi stayed put, tired after her long trip.

Kakashi flipped the page of his book and giggled, blushing a little over his mask.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

The jounin found Akina meditating under a tree, with all her injuries healed. He blinked, but figured she used a basic healing jutsu to mend her body. He took out the scroll as he got closer and tossed it towards her.

She caught it and opened it in one smooth motion, reading it with her fingers. Kakashi watched with interest at her method of reading, having been wondering about it for a while.

After a while she frowned and bit her thumb. She swiped the blood across the seal underneath the message and in a poof of smoke came her uniform and weapons. A white porcelain mask rested on top of the bundle of supplies.

It was a white dragon mask, which wasn't too unexpected, considering the ninjutsu she showed to her evaluators. It had no expression whatsoever, but the eyes which were decorated with black paint, had a sort of knowing look to it; like it knew everything. The only other mark on the mask was a small silver outline of a crescent moon on the forehead.

("Well whaddaya know, it looks just like you, pup,") said Kouseki as she watched the girl run her fingers over the mask, feeling the ink that outlined the eyes and the symbol placed in the middle of the forehead. Akina fingered the moon symbol and tilted her head slightly. The moon? She would have to ask why that was on her mask when she got back.

Kakashi looked at the mask for a moment before returning to reading his book by the last rays of sunlight.

"I suppose your mission starts now…" he glanced at Kouseki, who seemed to have a thoughtful expression on her face. The wolf caught his gaze and held it for a while. They exchanged slightly worried looks before Akina got up, carrying her stuff with her. She nodded at the two.

"I will be back by tomorrow morning." She started to walk away to change and leave, but she stopped and addressed their distressed auras. "Scouting."

This lessened the feeling enough for Akina to be comfortable with leaving. When she walked out of their range of sight, Kakashi turned towards Kouseki.

"Err, Kouseki. I guess you can guard the house from the forest since they'll get suspicious if you come back without Akina."

The wolf nodded. All the better. This way she could be the first to meet the girl when she came back from checking out the surrounding area. With one last satisfied nod, Kakashi walked away, leaving Kouseki alone.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Akina jumped through the trees at a leisurely pace, suppressing her chakra a much as she could, as well as her spirit aura, just in case. Her new black cloak flapped noiselessly in the wind. She spread her sensory range and sniffed at the air for any scents of the two enemy ninja they had fought the day before.

("Halt.") She stopped on a tree branch and tilted her head in the direction of a higher branch, sensing a barn owl. It cocked its head at the girl and gave her a knowing look, not knowing that she was unable to see it. ("So you _do _understand the beasts' tongue...what is your business here, child?")

Akina hopped onto the branch that the owl was perched on, not disturbing anything in order to hide her tracks. "I am on a mission to kill Gatou, Fukurou-san."

Several other nocturnal animals peeked their heads out of their respective hiding places. A mouse chattered for a bit. ("W-We can help you!") it squeaked. The little mammal didn't fear the owl for some strange reason. The bird seemed to sense her thoughts and chuckled a little.

("I only eat the sick and old, like the noble wolves. I am also the Elder of this forest. You seem to seek information for a cause that will help us indirectly. We would all be happy to help.")

The other animals made sounds of agreement. Akina turned her head downwards to the mouse and nodded at it. "Where is Gatou?"

It pawed nervously at its whiskers. ("He is in a strange honeycomb den in the heart of the forest! We sense great evil coming from there, so we avoid it!")

The girl nodded, and was about to take off, but a question from the wise owl stopped her.

("Little one, have you ever wondered why you are so connected to Okaa-sama?")

All beasts called the Earth Okaa-sama. Akina shook her head once. She considered those things part of her past. And she couldn't remember anything from back then.

Akina felt the air shift as the owl nodded in understanding. ("I will tell you this, my child. You are more like us than you think.")

With this vague statement, it lifted off of the branch and flew away, as silent as an owl should be. The girl puzzled over this for a short while, before shaking the distracting thoughts from her head. She had a mission to do.

After about 30 more minutes of tree-jumping, Gatou's headquarters came into view. Indeed, the mouse was right. She connected with the wind once again and felt it move around the building, giving her a picture of what it looked like in her mind. Indeed, the mouse was right. It_did_ look like a honeycomb, in a sense.

Akina stayed hidden a few hundred yards away from the base and started to count the amount of human spirit auras inside. She counted at least 35 people on each story (there were about 7), but only about 20 had at least genin level chakra. In the basement, there were hearts that were barely pumping. The girl could smell the blood from here. It must be where they kept people prisoners.

A slight flare in chakra drew her attention to the 4th floor. She recognized that chakra as the one who forced her to knock herself out; the fake hunter-nin. There was great anger in his aura.

The ANBU in training let her chakra flow through her ears to enhance the sense even more. She blocked out all the distracting noises and focused on the place where she now sensed a weak Zabuza and his accomplice.

"_So this is the limit of the great Demon of the Mist? Pitiful. It's more like Demon of the Whisp. HA!"_

The anger grew.

"_Do not insult Zabuza-sama!"_

There was an arrogant chortle. _"Don't kid around. If you don't get the job done next time, I'll kill you myself."_

Two other voices yelled in agreement as the middle aura went closer to Zabuza. She classified them as lackeys or bodyguards. The one insulting Zabuza must be Gatou. Akina filed away his scent and aura into her mind for later use.

There was a yell of pain from Gatou an the sound of weapons clashing. The fraud was leaking killer intent now.

"_You are not worthy of touching Zabuza-sama!"_

"_F-Fine! But you better kill the old man next time!"_

Gatou and his bodyguards left the room with pained auras. The killer intent disappeared as Zabuza spoke for the first time in the confrontation.

"_Haku, you didn't have to do that..."_

"_I wanted to, Zabuza-sama."_

_So, his name is Haku._ Akina melted into the shadows and left towards Tazuna's house.

It was around 10:30 pm right now, so they wouldn't suspect anything if she came back around now. She made a pit stop at her training area to dirty herself up a little bit (i.e. do obstacle course she set up one more time) and change before arriving in front of the house.

Kouseki trotted out of the shadows and came inside with her to see Kakashi waiting for them He was the only one up at the time and was sitting at the table, reading by a lantern. He looked up and put his fingers in a position to snap.

Akina closed the door and stood at attention, saluting her sensei and sempai (Kakashi being a retired ANBU Captain, having been in the ANBU for about 10 years). That hand position meant _'Attention! Movement allowed. Report.'_

Her saluted hand went down. _'245 enemies. Approximately 20 ninja, most chuunin level and under. 2 jounin level ninja. Enemy base 10 miles north by northwest. Target found and identified.'_

Kakashi nodded, satisfied. _'Jounin level previous enemies?'_

_'Yes, sir.'_

_'You have the shift for guarding the client tomorrow. Dismissed.'_

_'Sir, yes, sir!'_

With that, Akina and Kouseki walked towards the room that she shared with her team to get some shut eye.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

A few days later, Naruto was left at Tazuna's house because his exhaustion. Kakashi, Kouseki, Hiromi, and Sasuke were to guard Tazuna today. The jounin didn't tell them, but he suspected today to be the day that Zabuza would finish healing. This would be Akina's chance to strike, so he assigned her training.

Akina waited high in the trees near Tazuna's house for Kouseki's signal. When she heard her howl, then that meant that Zabuza and Haku had arrived, and it was time for her to finish her mission.

She played the silent sentinel as Naruto yelled out for being left behind, hurrying to catch up to everyone. He sprinted right past her tree. Five minutes later, after Akina smelled the scent of boar's blood, Naruto came back just in time to save Inari and Tsunami from the hired samurai.

Kouseki's faraway howl made her spring into action. She swiftly made her way towards the base where she had found her target, and found that Gatou wasn't even there. Only a few genin level ninja and a few normal humans were left in the building.

She frowned and scented the air, picking up Gatou's trail, headed towards the bridge. It was still very much fresh.

The girl followed it and found the crime lord and a couple hundred of his lackeys in boats not far from shore. There were 3 high-genin/low-chuunin level ninja on each boat, with a total of six boats.

On the bridge, a couple miles away, several chakra signatures were clashing, signaling a battle.

She took off her cloak and hid it in a bush. When the mist blocked their view, she slipped underwater and sneaked her way towards the group. The training exercises she had been doing were coming in handy. They weren't even able to sense her yet.

Akina connected to the water, feeling her way under the group through the water. A few sharks lurked underneath her, sensing that there was going to be meat soon.

A large great white swam next to her. ("We hear that you are killing this stinky ningen.")

Akina nodded, not able to talk at the moment. The shark narrowed his eyes at the boats. ("We can 'catch' those that get into the water.")

Any help right now was appreciated, so she nodded once again and connected her mind with the water around them. The other sharks stared at the girl in interest. She was going to bend the water to her will.

She swam to the middle of them all, raising her hands above her head. She clenched her hands, morphing the water under each boat into a dragon head that quickly 'ate' them. The razor sharp teeth had been frozen into ice, so all the boats exploded into bits of wood.

Most of the non-ninja were killed in this ambush, and those that managed to abandon ship were quickly killed by the awaiting sharks. The 18 ninja (plus Gatou, who had been rescued by the strongest) stood upon the water, split up into two groups. One was to track their mysterious attack down, and the other to get Gatou to safety.

Akina quickly changed positions and went a little closer towards the nervous Gatou. These attacks were straining her mind, but she could handle some more.

After some more concentrating, a dozen water dragons burst from the sea and killed the weaker ninja. The number of enemies was cut in half, and they regrouped. The jounin carrying Gatou finally spotted Akina and threw a group of his kunai at her before rushing out of the tight circle of ninja and towards safety.

The girl frowned as the other ninja focused their attention on her position underwater. The element of surprise was gone.

She dodged the large number of exploding tags and raining metal weapons that were plunging into the bay, finally feeling the need for air. She drew her sword and burst out of the water, stabbing the surprised ninja in his stomach.

"Suiton: Teppoudama (Water Release: Gunshot)!"

A couple dozen water balls flew at her, and she went back underwater. They missed and passed each other, causing them to hit their allies. In their moment of shock, Akina sheathed her sword and sent a few more dragons at the ninja.

They tore through 4 more ninja before exploding into a barrage of frozen senbon needles at the girl's mental command.

The senbon pierced several ninja in vital spots, while injuring others. Akina was starting to get a headache from the strain on her mind.

There were 5 ninja left. On the bridge, there was a pulse of demonic chakra that temporarily halted the battle on the water below it. It felt so evil, but it was strangely familiar to Akina.

Her heart throbbed. What was this feeling? Her self-control started to waver as the ancient chakra became stronger. Something in her was awakening, but what? It was calling…for blood.

She shot out of the water and engaged the nearest ninja in a taijutsu battle, giving away her identity. Some gasped at the ANBU mask, now that she wasn't a black and white blur. Where was her tattoo? Was she a rogue ANBU?

The ninja blocked her initial palm thrust with both his arms. The chakra shot through them, pulverizing the muscles and bones, and sending molten hot fire through the bloodstream. He cried out in pain. The other ninja tried to distract her by throwing their weapons at her.

She skillfully dodged them all and ducked under a punch from the ninja. Akina took the opening and punched his chest above his heart. Her chakra pierced through the vital organ, killing him.

The blood lust became stronger, overcoming her other senses.

The girl tilted her head to the side to avoid a punch and elbowed the ninja behind her. He stepped back and held his stomach, giving her time to spin around and punch him towards the others with a fiery fist. The fire burned through his skin, reaching his lungs. He sank into the water, unable to get back up.

She turned around to face the other ninja, who got a better look at her. Were those…claws? Akina licked her lips as she smelled the blood, feeling her newly grown fangs. What was happening to her?

With a snarl, she disappeared from view and reappeared behind the frightened ninja. A clawed hand burst through one's stomach, making the others sick. She disappeared again and decapitated the others.

The girl lifted her head into the air and smelled the other ninja almost at the bridge. A low growl erupted from her throat. She couldn't let her prey escape.

She rushed at the last ninja and Gatou, quickly closing the distance between them in a matter of seconds. Akina clawed at her enemy, who died quickly, unable to react in time to dodge.

Gatou whimpered as he tried to swim away from the crazed ANBU in training. Akina walked over and lifted him into the air, letting him get a good look at the blood-covered dragon masked ninja.

"D-Don't kill me! Please! I'll give you anything! Money! Stocks! Land!"

The demonic chakra in the distance died out, releasing its hold on the girl. Her mind cleared, the haze disappearing along with her fangs and claws. The stench of what she had just done finally penetrated the blood lust clouding her mind. Akina's nose crinkled in self-disgust. Did she do that?

Another whimper brought her attention to Gatou. She frowned. "You don't deserve to live, Gatou." She placed her palm on his chest and let out a burst a chakra, killing him quickly and painlessly.

Following procedure, she cut off the head and froze it, sealing it inside a water-proof scroll in her pouch. Below, the leader of the sharks was observing her. He seemed to know more about this other side of Akina then Akina herself.

He swam up to the quiet girl. ("Little one. The Elder in your village must know of what just happened. Speak to them when you return. All will be revealed then.")

The ebony-haired girl nodded once before grabbing the other part of Gatou's body. She walked under the bridge, once again suppressing her chakra as much as possible. She disappeared with a Shunshin, and reappeared in front of Zabuza on top, who had just been trapped by Kakashi's summoned dogs. The mist congregated to hug her body as she hovered a couple feet in the air using some air manipulation, concealing her true appearance. Only the mask, the blood, and part of her head could be seen clearly.

Both jounin saw the body that was dropped at the swordsman's feet and recognized it as Gatou's judging from the expensive clothes and accessories.

Zabuza's eyes narrowed. "You bitch...now how am I supposed to get paid!"

Akina bend down and went through the dead man's pockets. She found what she as looking for: a wallet. She tossed it at Zabuza after the ninken released him. He looked through it and found more than enough money to last them a few months. A grudgingly grateful nod was given to her before he looked over at Haku.

Both boys were staring wide-eyed at the bloody ninja. Haku turned towards Naruto with a small smile. "It seems that we don't have to fight anymore, Naruto-kun."

The jinchuuriki nodded before running towards Sasuke (who had just woken up after Kouseki had barked in his face several times).

Haku joined the other group of ninja next to Zabuza and bowed to Akina. "Arigatou."

She nodded before pointing at Gatou's body, the mist still shrouding her body. Chakra jumped from her finger and turned into a small fire dragon. It bit into his neck, making the fire spread on top of the whole body.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at this, before Akina left with another Shunshin.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

An hour later, Akina, who was now wearing her regular clothes, was found in her training area surrounded by several knocked out genin level ninja, 'panting'. The ANBU obstacle courses were suspiciously absent.

Kakashi congratulated her on a job well done (for her mission and theirs), and she nodded. Naruto ran excitedly towards Akina and started re-telling her all about their own battle, and how he had saved Sasuke (here, he was punched in the head by said ninja).

Kouseki joined Akina and nudged the girl's hand with her moist snout. ("Are you okay?")

Akina frowned and touched her nails where the claws had formed just an hour ago. "I...don't know."

* * *

YES! We're finally done with the Wave Arc! (grins) It wasn't so bad was it? I think the rating was appropriate, too. Blood like this is anticipated...I think. Anyways, R&R please!


	8. Origins

Ah. Now that the Wave Arc is over with, I can start getting to the more interesting parts of the plot. And yes, there is a plot, it's just not clear to you right now. I just need slowly introduce Akina and Kouseki part in the story in.

It's now October 10th, Naruto's birthday. (sees angry villagers chasing him around) OI! GET YOUR FAT ASSES AWAY FROM HIM! (grabs her pen and hurls it at the nearest person's head) (shakes fist at mob)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

"Talking"

_Thinking_

("Animals communicating" / _"Telepathy with animals"_)

(grins) Thank you for all of the reviews! I actually caught up to my other fanfiction, YAY!

* * *

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

**::Seeing the Truth;::**

**Chapter 8: Origins**

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"Team Seven, congratulations on completing your first C—er, I mean A-Rank mission. You are dismissed. Akina, stay. I need to give you your monthly allowance."

The guys left, leaving Kouseki, Akina, and the Hokage in the office alone. The much smaller ninja stood at attention and saluted to her highest commanding officer when the door closed. He answered with a nod and a sad, comforting smile.

"How was your mission Akina-chan?"

She said nothing. Instead she took out a scroll and placed it on the desk. He glanced at it and recognized it as a standard scroll that ANBU used to seal various items in, including the frozen heads of their targets. He opened and swiped blood across the seal. In a small puff of smoke, Gatou's frozen head—with an expression frozen in horror and terror.

The older ninja frowned sadly at the girl. He glanced questionably at Kouseki to see if the genin was reacting badly to killing for the first time. The wolf saw this and shook her head no, then cast a worried glance at Akina, who was quietly basking in Sarutobi's comforting and understanding aura.

"Your first B-Rank solo mission was a success, Akina-chan. The pay will be deposited into your account. You have the rest of the day off."

Sandaime inwardly sighed at this very small amount of off days she got, being an ANBU Trainee. The other younger members of Team Seven had gotten a week off to recuperate, both physically and mentally. Trainees were expected to jump right back into training no matter what the circumstances, even first kills.

"Hai."

He raised an eyebrow when she didn't leave right away. Her hand went to her ninja pouch, pulling out her ANBU mask. Akina showed it to him and then pointed in question at the moon symbol on her forehead. Recognition flooded onto his aged face.

"Ah. You want to know why you have an outline of the moon on your mask?"

She nodded to confirm it. He smiled a little at having a change in subjects, and the unintentional showing of what little child-like curiosity she had left.

"The moon represents tranquility, water, darkness, and inner strength. This contradicts the dragon mask, which represents generosity, fire, light, and nobility. Akina. In all the years that you have been living here, I have never once seen lose control of yourself. That shows tranquility and inner strength."

Kouseki grinned at his explanation. It made sense at least. She was indirectly showing her relationship with wolves, and if he explained it that way, no one would suspect.

"Arigatou, Hokage-sama." She bowed before walking out with the wolf, the mask tucked safely inside the pouch again.

("See ya later oyaji!")

The large black wolf padded next to the girl, who was heading towards the Hokage Mountain behind them. She looked questionably at Akina.

("Oi, pup, what are you doing?")

She didn't answer until they were well out of the village, in the forest. "A question for the Elders."

Golden eyes narrowed slightly at this. Memories from the bridge battle were rushing back. Kouseki was the only one that had sensed Akina's attitude change. The blood lust was not noticeable to humans (it was subtly different from killer intent), but beasts were acutely aware of it, and Akina had reeked of it.

It was time for Akina to know the truth about herself.

("No need to get them involved. I will answer your question, Akina-chan.")

Akina stopped walking and tilted her head at Kouseki, who had begun to lead the way towards the Council Chambers.

Along the way, they were both greeted warmly by the creatures of Konoha. The wolf shared a glance with another, who understood the silent message. He trotted off to inform the Wolf Elder.

Within the minute, an echoing howl broke loose, ordering the emptying of the cave.

Deep inside the large tree filled cave, the wolf led the girl off to the edge of the cave. At the cave wall, she stopped and sniffed at a nearby tree. Nodding in satisfaction, Kouseki shoved her snout into the trunk, phasing through like it was nothing. She pulled out an old looking scroll and laid it at Akina's feet.

Akina picked it up and sat against another tree to read it. Her companion lay down next to her. She broke the wax seal and opened the scroll, never expecting to be knocked out by a burst of chakra from the scroll.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Akina rubbed the back of her head when she came to, immediately scanning her surroundings out of habit. After the first few assassination attempts, her body had adjusted to doing this to protect itself.

For the first time in years, she was shocked.

She wasn't in the cave anymore.

She felt through the earth and found that she was on top of a tall mountain, next to a mountain lake surrounded by a valley of green grass and tall trees. It felt comfortable here; peaceful. Kouseki's scent appeared on the other side of the meadow, and she followed it in the hopes of getting an explanation.

When Kouseki started to lead her somewhere, Akina started to get a little suspicious. Where were they going, and why did Kouseki know where to go?

Eventually the scents of three other wolves were carried to her by the wind. They were similar to Kouseki's, meaning that they were possibly her family.

The others were waiting for them in a circular clearing surrounded by the tallest trees in the forest. Kouseki greeted them all by lowering her tails, ears, head, and body in submission. She crawled up towards the largest and nuzzled the side of his mane. This confirmed it; these were the higher members of her pack; her family.

Kouseki went back to Akina (who was sitting in a respectful position in front of the three wolves) and sat down with her.

The jet colored leader (who was lying down, and still taller than Akina) nodded and cleared his throat.

("Welcome, little pup.")

Akina bowed. "I am honored to be here, Okami-sama.")

The other two brown wolves (who were about as big as the big Head of the Bear Clan back in Konoha) got comfortable behind the alpha, looking to be his betas.

("Takamaru Akina. You have been called here to discuss your past. Do you wish to continue?")

She frowned. Her past. The one thing that she wanted to know, but couldn't remember. If these beasts knew it (she didn't fail to notice that they were no ordinary wolves, being so large), then perhaps there was a reason for her amnesia?

A furry paw landed to rest on her folded hands. Kouseki. Making up her mind, Akina nodded firmly at Kouseki's superior. The wolf nodded back.

("Little one, let me start off this meeting with a little background information; something that you must know.") Kouseki's paw stayed on top of her hands as a sign of comfort.

("There are four Gates connecting Ningenkai to Makai. These four Gates are located in the centers of the eastern, western, northern, and southern domains of their guardians. Genbu of the North, Lord of Water. Byakko of the West, Lord of Earth. Suzaku of the South, Lady of Fire. Seiryuu of the East, Lord of Wind.

The Elemental Countries are located in Seiryuu-sama's domain, and he has given us permission to talk to you like this. Akina. We are demons; creatures from Makai. And we are all currently in the land of gods as guests with Seiryuu's special permission.")

Akina suddenly felt a little uncomfortable, like she was trespassing in a sacred place. After she got over this feeling, the wolves showed proof of their blood. The alpha sprouted nine tails, his betas had seven, and Kouseki had six.

She tilted her head as she felt more tails. Tailed demons were only found in Makai (and in some bizarre and rare cases, Ningenkai).

Kouseki's clan head continued. ("Many years ago, there was one more wolf high up in our ranks that went by the name of Kei. We shared blood; he was my younger brother. As the oldest sibling, I was to be the Heir to the clan. He looked up to me. As the years went by, he started to become envious of the power that someone of my position held.

The only way for the Heir to our clan is to be replaced is if he or she dies, or one of their blood brothers or sisters defeats the Heir in battle. He challenged me, and lost.

His heart became cold after his defeat, and hungered for more power to defeat me. Kei was still two tails weaker than me. He stopped challenging me to duels, and we thought that he gave up on his goal. He started courting the Heiress to a small dragon clan. By then, there were not many dragons around, and Seiryuu-sama was not allowed to have children, being a god and the Guardian of the Eastern Gate. This clan made up the last of the dragons. We allowed him to, hoping that love would steer him back in the right direction.

Otouto and Amaya, the ryuu heiress, had a daughter. Amaya was so happy, and both of our clans celebrated.

After this little pup was born, Amaya had died, seemingly of too much stress from childbirth. Kei was horrified, and went into a state of depression.

One week later, the entire dragon clan (save Seiryuu-sama) was killed mysteriously. The pup was the only survivor. Kei once again challenged me for the position of Heir. We were all surprised, to say the least. Our clan thought that he was over that. Apparently we were wrong.

Kei was far more stronger then he was just a few days ago. Both of us had seven tails at the time. The duel was drawn out, but this battle was different from the others. Kei was aiming to kill. I eventually came out on top. He left the next day, leaving behind his child.

It was then that we realized that Amaya was a five tailed dragon, and Kei had suddenly gained two tails since the massacre. He had absorbed his so-called mate's power to try to murder me in battle, so there were to be no interruptions as is decreed by our code of honor. He took her power and life when she was at her weakest.

We made a fatal mistake, and paid for it. The pup was now in danger, being one of the last dragons. Also, if Kei came back, he would be even more powerful, and with the way he had been acting and training, we might not be able to protect her.")

("Thankfully, Seiryuu-sama decided to take this matter into his own claws and made a deal with us. He would send the girl when she was old enough to Ningenkai with a wolf from our clan. To make such a deal to cross a gate alive and without a summoning, at least one god must be present. For some strange reason, Shinigami-sama took an interest in the girl and was there to sign it as well.")

He pondered on this for a while longer, giving Akina time to digest all of this new information. She had a sneaking suspicion what this small meeting was about.

("Takamaru Akina...you were that pup. You were that dracling.")

Akina felt her face pull into a tired frown. This was way too much to take in at once. She found out that she was a demon (half okami, half ryuu), she had family, she was related to Kouseki, and her father was a traitor. Her newly found uncle nodded in sympathy.

("Now. The reason I had to meet you face to face, Akina-chan, is that I have to unseal the rest of your demon blood. You will not gain tails or any demonic appearances or forms until you reach puberty.")

The thought of having tails in a village attacked by a nine tailed demon was not appealing.

("When you two crossed over the gate, it was sealed so that you would appear human. But when that Kyuubi no Kitsune's chakra leaked through his vessel, his chakra must have weakened the seal and let part of your demonic nature seep through it. We must unseal your demon blood before it breaks.")

With that, Kouseki did something that surprised Akina even more (she was starting to get tired of this). She changed into a human.

Kouseki's human form looked around sixteen and had waist long black hair and those same piercing golden orbs. Currently, she was wearing a black hakama with a black kimono top and a dark blue haori.

She grinned at the shorter oni. "Take off your jacket and shirt, Akina-chan!"

Akina obediently stripped off her shirts and jacket, leaving only the white bandages wrapped around her chest. A slender finger traced her spine until it stopped in the middle of her back. A small burst of youki (demonic chakra) revealed an intricate seal drawn on the middle of her back.

About half of the seal's black ink had faded to a silvery gray color, meaning that it was weakening greatly. Kouseki frowned at it before making a strange hand seal and chanting in the demonic tongue. The seal glowed a bright red color. Akina felt like her skin was being burned off and clenched her teeth to keep from crying out.

Several painful minutes later, it was gone, and Akina's senses sky-rocketed. Both girls said good bye to their family and left via the scroll.

Up in the sky, Seiryuu and the Shinigami were watching the entire thing. The God of Death rubbed his chin in thought and grinned.

"It will be extremely interesting watching that one's life..."

The great azure dragon just shook his great head in slight exasperation.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Akina and Kouseki (now in her wolf form again) arrived in front of the same tree. She immediately noticed that she could connect to the elements more naturally when she felt through the air. Kouseki saw Akina's slight amazement and grinned again.

("Now that that's over with, I get to train ya, pup! We'll have lotsa fun!")

That statement would have been more comforting if Kouseki hadn't been chuckling under her breath and emitting a very happy aura.

"Kouseki...neechan. I would like some time along for now."

She nodded in understanding and trotted off to take a nap under the great tree in the center of the cave. Akina rubbed her temples and wandered out of the cave, and into the forest. She let her feet lead the way and tried to reorganize her thoughts.

Akina's brows scrunched together, unseen underneath the hitai ate, when the thought of her father came into her disoriented mind. Her father, Kei, was a traitor demon wolf. In any wolf pack, it was a great dishonor to be forced to leave your own family.

She was the daughter of a mass murderer, and only came to be so that her mother would become weak from birthing her and die.

If you thought of it that way, she shouldn't even be alive, but she was.

When she noticed the mental path that her thinking was taking her, Akina stopped her train of thought, calmly analyzed it, then brushed it off and moved on. She had no need to think such useless things.

She supposed it was nice to know her origins, and who she was. But she couldn't remember. The price of crossing the Gate the way she did was her memories, or at least that was what she guessed. If that was true, then she'd only get them back if she went back to Makai, but that would mean leaving behind the few friends that she had gained in Konoha. Akina wouldn't give them up for the world.

The girl suddenly found herself in front of the monument, located in her genin team's training grounds. The path she took here everyday was so ingrained into her mind by now that her subconscious must have taken her here.

Her sensei was there also. They stood next to each other in silence as they paid their respects to those that had passed on in battle.

The older ninja got distracted from his mourning by his 'student'. He side glanced at the girl, who was now tracing all the names with her small index finger. Killing for the first time at the age of eleven was not good for the mental health. He remembered his own first kill, but forcefully shoved those thoughts aside.

She felt his gaze and stopped her finger at 'Umino.' Her lips twitched into a frown, out of her control, for what felt like the tenth time in that hour.

"I'm…tired, sensei. I just need to rest for a bit."

Her voice showed the level of her stress, and Kakashi wisely did not reply. He knew what it felt like to be burdened with the deaths of others, especially if it was the amount that Akina had killed. It smelled like a massacre, even from on top of the bridge, where his sense of smell was somewhat dampened by the mist.

He watched his subordinate lie down against a tree to relax herself.

Akina took the headband off her closed eyes, placing it on her lap. The soft breeze played with her bangs and felt soothing against the exposed skin. Kakashi was reminded yet again just how young she was. She was still only a little girl, and yet she was already taking lives.

Soon the young genin fell into a light sleep, mentally and physically exhausted. The jounin smiled at the peaceful expression on her face. He predicted when she grew up, Akina would probably be breaking quite a few hearts without realizing it.

A few hours later, the dark clouds that had been looming overhead finally shed their load, dropping layer upon layer of the sky's tears.

Kakashi was still mourning in front of the stone at the time. Akina was awakened from her dreamless sleep by the pattering of raindrops. She sat up slowly and rubbed the sleep out of her unseeing eyes. A soft smile appeared on her face as she put out a hand to catch the falling water.

"Ame..." she whispered.

She got up and came out of the shelter of the tree, spreading out her arms and lifting her face to the sky to feel the rain. Her sensei watched with slightly surprised expression.

Akina rarely showed emotion, and when she did, it was usually just a small frown. Never had he seen such a happy look on her face, especially with the headband off. If anything, it was just as effective at hiding expressions as Kakashi's mask.

And now Kakashi knew the reason why Akina smelled like the earth after the rain.

Dull forest green eyes landed on the jounin. If he hadn't known that she was blind, he would have assumed that she was staring at him.

"Why do you wear your mask, sensei? You look fine without it." Not that she could judge. It wasn't often that she really paid much attention to such details, being blind. She did an initial scan and shoved it in the back of her mind.

Kakashi blinked. "How did you...?"

He scanned his memories to see if he ever showed his face to Akina, and his search came up as none. And besides, the girl was blind.

"I can hear the rain drops bouncing off of your face and get a clear picture of what you look like."

The copy-nin nodded in acceptance to this explanation. "Why do you like the rain anyways...?"

Akina noticed how Kakashi had changed subjects to avoid answering her question and made no move against it. She tilted her head and felt the sky's tears, the smile still on her face.

"It's peaceful and quiet."

Akina was an enigma to the other members of Team Seven, so learning all these new things about her was good, especially since Kakashi was about to carry out the plan he made before they left for the Wave Country. He smiled and chuckled at the thought of Naruto and Sasuke's reactions to this.

**FLASHBACK**

Silently, Kakashi debated on how he should correct this problem after it got stuck in his head. Friendly rivalry was good for improvement in skills, but sometimes it went too far…Wait! He had an idea! He chuckled darkly at the expressions he would see on his team's faces when he showed them.

**END FLASHBACK**

"Oh, Akina-chan...?" he called in a sing song voice. She turned her head towards him, the smile toned down a bit in question.

"I want you to call the others and tell them that we're going to have a teamwork exercise tomorrow morning. Tell them to pack all of their clothes, essentials, and anything you don't want stolen while you're gone."

Gone...? For some odd reason, Akina was getting a bad feeling about this new "teamwork exercise." She nodded and started walking towards Sasuke's house, since it was farther away and not in the same neighborhood.

In her sensei's mind, a chibi Kakashi was rubbing his hands together evilly.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Akina stopped in front of the front gates to the deserted Uchiha District. The aura surrounding the area was...disturbing, to say the least. The scent of blood still lingered in quite a few houses. She felt for any chakra signatures and found Sasuke in the heart of the place.

The walk through the empty streets was uneventful, but for some strange reason she kept on getting the feeling that she was going to be attacked at any moment. There were no auras around that she can sense, so she supposed the spirits of the dearly departed were still roaming around.

She walked up to the front door of what she assumed was the main house and knocked on the door. Sasuke's aura inside flickered with some surprise at a visit (Akina always had her chakra suppressed until she couldn't be sensed at all by most ninja) and moved downstairs towards the door.

He opened it and saw a soaked Akina with a small smile plastered on her face. Akina didn't seem like the kind of person to stand around in the rain (and possibly get sick) and be smiling like that. Confusion seeped onto his face for a second before it was wiped off his face.

"What do you want?"

The smile didn't even falter at his guarded and emotionless tone. "Teamwork exercise tomorrow. Pack all clothes, essentials, and valuables."

Sasuke nodded before taking in her appearance once again. "Don't you have an umbrella...?" He inwardly slapped himself for showing concern.

"I don't want one." The smile seemed to widen minutely at this.

"Hn."

She nodded a good-bye and about faced. A nearby green frog croaked before hopping and landing on her head.

Sasuke shook his head slightly at the "Akina-ness" as Kakashi liked to call it. Do what you want and ignore any weirdness associated with it.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"WHAT! WHY!"

Akina rubbed her ears in an attempt to get out the ringing that Naruto had just caused. Kouseki padded out from behind Naruto (who was ranting about teamwork exercises).

Apparently she had come here when it started raining to avoid getting wet. The smell of a wet canine was terrible, so she appreciated this.

Akina just shrugged dismissively.

The wolf grinned at the fact that Akina was acting normally again. She just needed time to think, and the demon in disguise knew that the dragon heiress accepted Kouseki as family when she called her neechan.

"Oyasumi (Goodnight) Naruto..."

The orange nin stopped mid-rant and waved enthusiastically at his teammates. "Ja! Akina-chan! Kouseki-chan!"

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"No. Fucking. Way."

Team Seven was standing in front of a small two-story house near the red bridge with all of their bags sitting behind them. Naruto and Sasuke were glaring at it as if it were going to jump up and attack them.

Kakashi just eye-smiled and pushed all of them into the fenced yard. "Now now, Naruto-kun, watch your language."

Kouseki's eye twitched slightly at what this was implying.

("You're not tellin' me that...")

"You four are going to be living together in this house for as long as we're Team Seven."

The boys and the wolf groaned at this.

Akina picked up her bags (which were filled with summoning scrolls with her stuff sealed thanks to the Sandaime—it was to ensure the secrecy of her ANBU Trainee status after all) and walked towards the front door, leaving her glaring team mates behind. A screech overhead alerted them all to visitors.

Hiromi and Hiroki swooped down and landed on Akina's head and Kouseki's back respectively. The female smiled and flapped her wings at them all in greeting.

("Helloooo Team Seven!")

Naruto pointed at her in slight recognition. "Aren't you…?"

The hawk put on a hurt expression. ("That's cruel, Naruto-kun. You forgot me already?")

Her brother grunted and ignored the conversation. The action was mirrored by Sasuke, who followed Akina's example and went to claim his room inside. The jinchuuriki blinked before he realized something.

"O-Oi! I wanna pick my room, too!"

He grabbed his bags and rushed inside.

Kakashi was left alone in the front yard, smiling like a child that had just been given candy.

_This is going to be extremely entertaining...

* * *

  
_

I'm sorry for the slow update, but we just got a new computer (which I am now typing on) and had to deal with all this installation junk.

Not much action in this chapter (actually, none at all, (blinks)), but it will get more interesting in the next few chapters Yes! Chuunin Exams Arc next!


	9. Enigma

_October 1st, 2008: I went back and re-organized a few things...fixed a couple problems...renamed the chapter. All other Author's Notes in this chapter are from when I first posted this chapter._

Chuunin Exam Arc at last! This calls for a celebration! (turns Kouseki into her human form and does a jig with her) As a present to both you and me, this chapter will have double the length! Or at least close to that...heh.

(grins) Hope you like it! This is where the AU starts to really show, other then the "Zabuza and Haku live" part in the Wave Arc. I actually have something planned for them in the future...

"Talking"

_Thinking_

("Animals talking" / _"Telepathy with animals" _)

"**Demonic Language" / Demon talking telepathically with their host'**

_'Miscellaneous things such as signs, ANBU sign language, letters...'_

* * *

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

**:;Seeing the Truth;:**

**Chapter 9: Enigma**

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"SASUKE-TEME! Hurry up in there!"

There was no answer to this holler and the sound of water running continued. Naruto gritted his teeth and pounded on the bathroom door again.

"OI!"

Akina quietly ate her cereal and ignored the yelling in the background. Kouseki glared at the boys.

("Can't you two stop arguing for more than five minutes?! Kami-sama...")

There was only one bathroom in the house (Kouseki suspected that Kakashi meant for it to be like that), and fights over the bathroom, couch, kitchen; anything you could think of, they fought over it.

A blue toothbrush went flying over Akina's head from the opened bathroom door and into her cereal bowl. Both boys gawked at the situation and quickly separated their tangled limbs, scrambling to get away from the quiet girl.

Akina picked up the toothbrush and smelled Sasuke's scent coming from it, indicating that it was his. That meant that Naruto had thrown it.

Kouseki let out a bark like laugh and backed away to watch the scene unfold.

The sounds of doors opening and closing (along with the stomping of feet) could be heard as Akina slowly walked upstairs towards their bedrooms.

She passed a slightly apprehensive Sasuke as he exited his dark blue colored bedroom and walked by her dark green room towards Naruto's soft orange colored room. There was a lot of noise coming from her fox like teammate's room as she stopped in front of it and listened.

"I'm going to the bridge..." muttered the Uchiha as he escaped the house. Kouseki grinned, tail wagging.

Akina grasped the doorknob, turning it slowly just to tease Naruto. The sounds from inside the room grew more frantic.

"Naruto..."

Naruto froze halfway through the window with his ninja pouch halfway on. His hands twitched a little.

"H-Hai...?"

In a heartbeat, Akina was right beside Naruto with her hand on his shoulder. He flinched, trying to smile (and failing miserably). The toothbrush was waved in front of his face.

"Don't do it again."

Then, she was gone like the wind, leaving Naruto shivering slightly from the anxiety.

_That...was kinda scary..._

He managed to get over this and meet up with his teammates on the red bridge about ten minutes later.

Sasuke spared him a slightly interested glance, seeing as Naruto hadn't arrived with Akina; one couldn't help but suspect that something had happened to the ramen-loving ninja.

Akina and Kouseki were sitting next to each other on the shore, with Akina leaning against the bridge and the wolf lying next to her, napping.

The girl looked like she was meditating. Naruto just sighed before sitting down against the railings and catching up on lost sleep. Besides, Kakashi usually didn't come for at least another two hours.

The wind started to circle around the kunoichi protectively as she calmed her mind. This interrupted Sasuke's brooding. He cocked an eyebrow and eyed a rock sitting innocently by his foot. He shifted his position and kicked it at Akina, just to test something.

Right when the rock came within two feet of his teammate, it was shredded to dust by the wind. Naruto woke up coughing as the dust cloud roamed over towards him.

He rubbed it out of his eyes and glared at the first thing he saw: Sasuke.

"OI! What'd you do that for, teme?!"

The Uchiha glared back, but didn't immediately deny the claim, since he _had_ kicked the rock at Akina. Naruto noticed this and pointed triumphantly at him.

"HA! I knew it! It _was_ your fault!"

"Che. You accused me without knowing for sure that I did it? You must be more stupid than I thought..."

"NANI?! Wanna repeat that?!"

"Dobe. You deaf, too?"

Naruto snarled and punched Sasuke, who shifted to the left and flipped the orange ninja over his shoulder.

When Naruto had gotten up again, he saw Sasuke staring back at him with his Sharingan activated. He gritted his teeth at the hypnotic red eyes.

Kouseki opened a bored golden eye and stared at the tense stand off. The gaze went towards Akina, who was slowly drifting out of her deep meditation. Her hand twitched, signaling her readiness to interfere.

Three shuriken left Naruto's hands and he dashed, zigzagging towards his rival. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the images that he was seeing, stepping out of the range of their trajectory.

A barrage of kicks and punches were thrown when Naruto reached Sasuke, and the Uchiha smirked a little at the new abilities that the Sharingan gave him.

All of the attacks were either brushed off or dodged, making Naruto angrier.

A punch that went too far gave Sasuke the chance to knock the other back to the other side of the bridge.

He was caught by Akina before he hit the ground and took any more damage.

Adrenaline pumped through the Uchiha prodigy's veins, urging him to keep on fighting and find out just how strong that 'bitch' was.

The kunai thrown at Akina was caught by the handle and used to deflect the shuriken. Akina frowned at Sasuke's behavior.

The two rushed at each other, one attempting to attack, and the other trying to disarm and restrain.

Akina ran at the same speed as Sasuke as to not raise any suspicion, thrusting her palm towards his chest. It was brushed aside and Akina was forced to bend backwards to dodge a fist.

She used that momentum to flip backwards, kicking Sasuke into the air by his chin. Crouching, she jumped up towards the air-borne shinobi.

He tasted blood in his mouth where he bit his tongue when he got kicked. Narrowed eyes were sent towards Akina as she appeared right in front of him, sending chakra enforced punches to his pressure point areas.

_Is this genjutsu? Ninjutsu?_

Sasuke was too slow to block the hits and was sent hurtling towards the ground—only to be caught by Kakashi, who had arrived before the fight started (he had chosen to stay hidden and observe). Naruto and Kouseki were also at the sidelines.

"Saa...I think that's enough..."

The boy panted as the adrenaline left him and he realized just what he was doing. He blinked before scowling at the interference. The world started to get fuzzy and dark as the pain began to overcome his senses.

Akina landed and walked towards the rest of their team. She stopped in front of Sasuke and Kakashi, crouching down in front of the avenger.

"The Sharingan eyes can see, but your body might not be able to react fast enough. Work hard to learn new techniques and grown and you shall be rewarded. Sasuke, we're all here to help you, like teammates and friends are supposed to."

He made no response as he drifted into unconsciousness after pondering over her words.

_Friends...?_

Kakashi sighed as he laid his subordinate gently onto the ground. He nodded gratefully at Akina for trying to talk some sense into the boy. If it worked, even a little bit, she would be doing a great favor to the entire village.

Naruto stared at Sasuke's sleeping face.

The night before they went to the Hokage's Office, Naruto had asked Akina about Sasuke. His 'last words' still echoed through his mind.

"_I swore I wouldn't die...until I killed him...my aniki...thought the oath would save me...but...don't you dare die..."_

In return for being told this memory, Akina revealed the the bare skeleton of the Uchiha Massacre, and the reason why he acts the way he does. There had been a comber silence after this, with both kids reflecting on their own pasts.

Kouseki had commented about all the members of Team Seven losing their family at one point or another. The girl wisely didn't relay this to Naruto, choosing to keep what little she knew of Kakashi's past a secret.

The silver haired ninja noticed the atmosphere and decided to change the subject. He sent a curious glance down towards Akina.

"Akina-chan...were you the one who cut my ropes in the bell test?"

Naruto snapped out of his daze and blinked at her as well.

"Hai."

Kouseki yawned, recalling the talk they had the night before about her demonic powers.

**FLASHBACK**

Akina put the last of her clothes into the closet and sat down on the twin size bed. Kouseki scooted a over a little to make room.

("So...I guess you've noticed that your senses and connection to the elements have increased like hell, right?")

The younger demoness responded by gathering some wind around herself, ruffling the wolf's fur. Kouseki nodded at this.

("Demons are almost always more away of their surroundings of humans, which is why you were able to get used to being blind when you were still a kid—er, I mean, a few years ago." A sweat drop appeared on the back of the wolf's head when she realized that Akina was _still_ a kid. Everyone tended to overlook that when they saw how mature the girl acted.

Akina's hand twitched when she heard Sasuke shove Naruto into a wall downstairs.

("Tonight we'll be training on controlling those senses after I explain what you can do now. Your demon blood is just starting to awaken again, so this is only a taste of what is going to happen. Pretty soon you'll be able to smell what a ningen on the other side of the village ate for lunch when he goes to the bathroom, hehehe...and your senses will only improve as you get stronger.")

She continued on to briefly explain some basics about the elements in accordance to demons.

("As a beast, you are able to be more in tune with the elements around us. You seem to be more connected to wind and fire (which isn't too shocking since you are part dragon), and water (this coming from your okami blood). I've no idea about lightning. Darkness, Light, and Void are the three base elements, and are the rarest to attain control over. You'll know if you're accepted by then if they let you control them.")

By the tone of her voice, it sounded like she really doubted this.

("You'll have trouble finding out which one you are better at manipulating, but we'll have some fun with that after you don't smell every ningen that's pissing when you walk through the village...")

**FLASHBACK**

"Neh, neh, Akina-chan! You were the one that helped me get out of that trap?"

She nodded and listened to Sasuke's heartbeat pick up a little. He was going to wake up soon. Kakashi seemed to notice this as well.

As if on cue, the boy woke up and attempted to move his body. His muscles screamed at him to stop, but he ignored the soreness and sat up, staring dully at the rest of Team Seven.

"Maa, maa, Sasuke. Akina was just about to tell us why she was able to control wind without chakra like in the genin test!"

"Bloodline limit. Extreme connection with nature itself."

All three blinked at her. Naruto scowled in confusion. "But I thought you couldn't remember your past!"

Kakashi and Sasuke had been thinking along those lines as well, but didn't bother speaking up since they knew that Naruto would do that for them.

_I don't._ "They're coming back, slowly..."

Naruto grinned happily and glomped her, immediately feeling her body tense at this form of physical contact. Akina awkwardly lifted her arms and wrapped them lightly around Naruto, holding the boy loosely.

Sasuke and Kakashi noticed her hesitance to the hug and were wondering of she really never hugged anyone in her life. Kouseki just inwardly sighed at this, expecting this reaction. The girl had never been one to have physical contact with anyone, even when she was a child.

The boy let go first, sensing her discomfort. He scratched the back of his neck and laughed a little. "Gomen, Akina-chan..."

She just shook her head, indicating that he didn't need to apologize for being happy for her.

The jounin took out a scroll (everyone noticed that it was a D-Rank scroll) and skimmed through the contents. Naruto groaned at the thought of more meaningless tasks.

"Hmm, the first mission for today is...harvesting the corn at Takeshi-san's ranch."

The jinchuuriki grinned. "That's easy!"

_All the other D-Rank were easy, but that didn't make them any less boring!_ Kouseki's lips curled into a grimace.

Kakashi just smiled at him. "All five acres...by 2 pm. It's 10:30 right now."

Kouseki and Sasuke's eyes twitched at the thought of the very large area that they had to cover in the hot noon sun.

But then the wolf seemed to brighten up as a thought occurred to her. _HA! I don't have hands in this form! I can just sit on my butt and watch them slave in the fields! YES!_

Seemingly oblivious to Kouseki's behavior change, Kakashi continued on. "But let's make it interesting...whoever finishes their share of the harvesting gets a jutsu scroll while the losers to the rest of the fields."

The boys' heads perked up at the word 'jutsu', instantly becoming more interested in the mission. Kakashi grinned from behind his mask

"But...there are rules."

Kouseki would have cocked an eyebrow if she had one.

"Number one: Jutsu and weapons are allowed. Number two: You can't interfere with anyone else's work. Number three: You will only be officially finished when all the corn in your field is harvested _and_ you make it back to Takeshi-san's house and tell me you're done."

The walk to the ranch was filled with the normal banter between the two rivals, and, interestingly enough, a monkey that had decided to join in the noise while riding on Akina's shoulder.

It screeched whenever the boys started yelling, causing them to quiet up fast, since it was hurting their ears. Akina inwardly thanked Kouseki for showing her how to tone down her hearing first, since the little saru was right next to her ear.

"Well, we're here!"

He sounded far too cheerful for their liking, especially since he wasn't going to be doing any work at all, as usual. A brown spiky haired man in a plain gray kimono greeted them at the gates to the field.

"Thanks for coming! My house is over there if you need me," here he pointed up-road towards a farmhouse, "I have drinks whenever you're thirsty, so all of you should feel free to rest up there anytime…"

The smile he had was directed at Sasuke and Kakashi. He turned around and walked back up towards his house, and just when he thought they were out of earshot, he mumbled, "...except for the demon, his bitch, and his attack dog…"

Kakashi caught this, due to his jounin senses, and was severely disappointed at the behavior. He looked towards Akina (since he knew for sure she heard it also) and saw her completely ignoring the insult. Kouseki had also ignored it for the most part, just snarling silently for a second.

All three genin picked an acre of land and got into their ready positions. Kakashi and Kouseki sat on the porch of the house. The jounin charged some chakra into his finger and shot it into the sky.

Naruto immediately created a hundred kage bunshin and sent them all to do their work. Sasuke took out his weapons and started throwing them with expert precision. Akina simply walked through the fields, cutting the corn from their stalks with her wind manipulation.

She took it slow and went at the boys' pace. When the corn was cut off she immediately sent them towards the large barrels located by the house, where all of the yellow vegetables were supposed to be put. Just to get some training in, Akina also cleaned the corn free of dirt and insects before depositing them in the barrels.

Kouseki snickered from beside the reading Kakashi when she saw the ease that Akina was working with. With the boys busy doing their own thing, they wouldn't be looking at her, so there was no worry.

Well, she didn't need to worry about Naruto and Sasuke. But Kakashi...

The ninken summoner spared a look at the wolf. The only animals as smart as Kouseki were the Inuzuka's dogs, the cats from one of Suna's clans, and summoned animals. The wolf sensed his gaze and met it with her golden pools.

"Kouseki...I know that you aren't a normal wolf..."

Her eyes filled with a quiet laughter and Kakashi instantly knew that he was right. He narrowed his eyes. He knew something was wrong when Pakkun looked like he had recognized Kouseki when the little dog was summoned at the bridge.

"We'll have to have a talk with Hokage-sama when we get back, Kouseki…it's not good to hide something from your team."

She nodded and went back to watching the kids break their backs harvesting. _I'm sorry, Akina-chan, but orders are orders…and they have to know if we want to survive…_

THREE HOURS LATER

"Sensei."

Kakashi looked up from Icha Icha Paradise to see Akina, who didn't look the least bit winded. He smiled, but was wondering why she bothered with winning their little bet. About five minutes later, both boys ran up, panting and covered in dirt, sweat, and various green things.

Akina had a condensed the water in the air to gather on her skin, simulating some sweat before they got to fully see her. She panted lightly just for show.

"Aww…! Akina-chan won!" Naruto whined about it for a few more seconds before walking back to the fields to finish the job up with Sasuke, not even bothering to take the offered lemonade from Takeshi.

The disguised demon, however, took the glass that was offered to Naruto with a nod of thanks. The man watched as she brought the glass up to her lips and drank the whole thing, earning a happy grin.

When he went back inside, Akina turned her head to the side and spit out a small puddle of white substance. She set the glass down and let out an almost inaudible sigh. Kakashi appeared to be ignoring this and reading his book, but she knew that he was paying attention.

She made a gesture with her hand. _'Poison, meant for Naruto.'_

He turned the page, making his fingers go into a certain position. _'I'll put it in my report.'_

Akina nodded and caught a small scroll that was thrown at her. She opened it and immediately felt ink markings that described Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no jutsu (Earth Release: Inner Decapitation).

Closing it back up, she walked towards the area that Sasuke and Naruto were harvesting in.

Kakashi blinked. "Akina? You won, you don't need to work anymore."

She stopped walking for a moment and didn't bother turning back. "Someone who leaves their comrades behind is worse than trash, right sensei?"

Kakashi blinked before smiling a little proudly at her. "Right."

Naruto looked up from the corn stalk to stare wide-eyed at Akina and the scroll in her hand (especially the scroll, to Kouseki's amusement from her seat on the porch).

"Akina-chan...!"

She put the scroll inside her ninja pouch and nodded at both of them. "I'll help and we can all learn this jutsu tomorrow morning."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly. When he was working, he could keep his mind off of other things, but now with Akina working by his side, they came back with a vengeance.

_Just how strong is she? What is she hiding? Why couldn't I defeat her?_

His anger showed in his aura and Akina turned to face the Uchiha. She tilted her head to the side as Naruto continued working, happily thinking of learning a "cool new jutsu". She could already guess what he was angry about as he started glaring at Akina.

"I became strong with the help and support of my friends, and will continue to do so in order to protect those that I bonded with."

The "And as a friend, I will help you, too" went unsaid as Akina used her wind manipulation and caught up to Naruto, leaving Sasuke to his thoughts and the small speech that he had gotten that morning.

He scoffed inwardly. _Friends? I don't need friends..._

But something buried deep inside of him told him that he was lying to himself.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"Well, that's it!"

"Arigatou gozaimasu!"

The team said their goodbyes to Takeshi and left the farm. Kakashi was actually following them this time to make sure that Akina would come with him to the Hokage.

They arrived at the genin's house to find a large black panther sunbathing in front of the door. Akina and Kouseki bowed to the wild cat, confusing the ningen of the team.

("Kurohyou-sama. What brings you here?")

Akina motioned for the others to go on inside without her, which they reluctantly did, but not without blinking at the cat that was almost as tall as Kakashi was whilst sitting down.

When Naruto went inside, he muttered something about "something in the water" and "freakishly huge animals".

The door closed with a click and the council member gazed at the two with unblinking eyes.

("We have heard news of your conversation with the silver one. I will accompany you to hear the conversation as well.")

Kouseki nodded and led the clan head to the backyard's training yard (which was actually connected to the forest, meaning it was huge) to wait until they were all ready to go.

"Today was a mission day…" was all Akina said before going inside the house. The beasts knew what this meant. Today she had to go to the Training Center.

She found Kakashi lounging on the sofa, reading his little book. Upstairs Sasuke and Naruto were arguing over who would take a shower first. Akina walked up and stood in front of the arguing rivals.

A small pulse of chakra interrupted them mid-yell. "Jan-Ken-Po."

With that, she went into her room. Downstairs, Kakashi was snickering under his breath as the two grudgingly played rock-paper-scissors.

Naruto won.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"Kakashi, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

The jounin, ANBU trainee, wolf, and black panther sat in front of the smoking Hokage, who was eyeing them all with interest.

Kakashi looked at Kouseki, who grinned at them all. Akina was paying attention, having overheard the conversation when she was using her wind manipulation. She might not have much control over it yet, but it was enough to carry her sempai's voice to her.

The wolf then looked at Sarutobi, who stared back with equal interest. "And what does Kouseki have to do with this?"

If possible, Kouseki's grin grew wider. "Because I'm not a normal wolf."

Kakashi, the Panther Head, and Sarutobi's eyes widened as she spoke in the human tongue. The Hokage was the first to recover, however, and he was now smiling.

"I was wondering when you would reveal yourself, Kouseki-chan."

"Hmmph. Damn ningen. I was hoping to really surprise you. Why do you have to be so freakin' smart?" pouted Kouseki.

The Third Hokage chuckled. "I'm sorry for being too smart."

"So, you're from Makai?" murmured Kakashi as he stared at the wolf. By Makai he meant "a summon". Kouseki noticed and decided to go with it. They weren't supposed to know the _entire_ truth, anyways, and he just gave her a good story.

She nodded her furry head. "That's right, scarecrow. I was summoned here by the pup's only family to protect her until they were able to."

It was the bare truth, and she didn't exactly care how they interpreted that statement.

Both shinobi went quiet and thought about this new problem. Summons in this world are not able to sustain themselves, and needed their summoner to give them a constant supply of chakra. The summon could stay as long as they have chakra, and the distance between the two didn't matter as long as that link was still there.

Kouseki wasn't summoned here. She crossed the Gate alive, meaning that she can restore her own chakra stores (which was a lot, being a six-tailed bijuu). All the evidence of her being a summon was there, so they wouldn't suspect.

The Panther Clan Head stayed quiet and silently observed the conversation.

"Anyways," Kouseki waved the awkward subject away with a massive paw, "I revealed myself to give you a message, Hokage-sama."

He nodded, sobering up and adopting the Hokage persona.

"My brothers and sisters say that the Hebi clan is getting restless."

The Sandaime frowned at what this implied.

By brothers and sisters, she meant the family she had in Makai. That meant that the snakes they were talking about were the snakes under Manda's command. And the only one that can summon Manda and his children were Anko (who usually only used her snakes for Sen'eijashu) and…

Orochimaru.

"Go on."

Kouseki nodded after allowing time for the Professor to think.

"They speak of new blood to be tasted in Ningenkai and talk frequently about their summoning master's dream."

Orochimaru was going to strike soon to get one step closer to attain his dream of learning and mastering all of the world's jutsu.

The wolf demon saw the gears turning in the old shinobi's head and nodded in satisfaction. Just as she expected from one of the few humans that she had any respect for. She looked at Kakashi, who was also thinking deeply about a certain student of his.

"Oi, scarecrow!"

His eye twitched at the name, and he was rewarded with another toothy grin.

"What?"

"Ooh...I detect some annoyance. I need you to summon your fasted ninken to deliver a message to my uncle."

He looked at his superior, who nodded at the unasked question. He made a few hand seals, bit his thumb, and pressed it to the floor, calling out the words "Kuchiyose no jutsu (Summoning jutsu)!"

A medium sized dog with a brown coat and sunglasses appeared from the cloud of smoke, greeting Kakashi with a bark and a salute. The inu turned around and saw someone he was told that he was going to meet.

The canines nodded at each other.

"Tell Okami-sama that the message has been delivered."

("Yeah, yeah. Gotcha. And I am to tell _you_ that I'll be the messenger between Makai and Ningenkai for us. Tell Kakashi-kun, will ya?")

Kouseki turned towards the two ninja, who were staring with interest at their conversation. "He's the messenger between the two worlds. Summon him daily in private with me present so that I can hear his report."

The Hokage butted in at that point.

"Kakashi, summon him in my office so that I may hear the message right away."

The jounin nodded in acceptance and the inu poofed to Makai to pass on the message.

Akina took this chance to get up and salute to Sarutobi, since it was probably the end of their meeting. He nodded in response.

She crossed her index fingers and middle fingers. "Kage bunshin." Another Akina and black cat appeared beside Kouseki. She put a hand on the real panther's shoulder and made another seal. "Shunshin no jutsu."

In a swirl of wind, they were gone, off to the forest behind the Hokage Mountain nearby.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

For the next few weeks, talk of the new bridge in Nami had spread throughout the Elemental Countries, and how a rogue ANBU with a dragon mask had helped save the poor country by killing Gatou the crime lord.

They called that ANBU the Shishou no Ryuuki, the Master of Dragon Spirits.

Even Naruto had heard the rumors (which Akina suspected had started with Zabuza and Haku), and had also complained about "stealing our fame."

But both Akina and Kouseki knew that the only reason that the "Shishou no Ryuuki" had become known so fast through rumors was because rogue ANBU with no tattoos signaling allegiances (or former allegiances) were an extremely rare occurrence.

Meanwhile, the jounin and ANBU in Konoha were on high alert now that the Chuunin Exams were about to start, and that it would be the perfect time for Orochimaru to strike.

A new village had entered, the Hidden Sound. Immediately after the messenger from Oto left the office, Kouseki came in and snarled.

"I smell snake."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Kakashi dismissed his team early when he saw a brown hawk circling overhead. _So it's that time already, eh…?_

The other rookie team senseis had similar thoughts and gave their teams the day off.

Sasuke immediately announced that he was heading home and walked away, leaving Akina, Naruto, and Kouseki behind.

The boy shrugged and started walking towards the village to get some ramen. The girls followed without a word, having nothing else to do.

After a few minutes, all three of them sensed someone followed them. Naruto glanced over his shoulder and twitched slightly when he saw a cardboard box with holes following them. Akina kept on walking, but Kouseki took the time to laugh in her mind at the predicament.

Naruto started to get annoyed after a few more alleys. He swiftly turned around and pointed accusingly at the box.

"That has got to be the _most_ idiotic disguise ever!"

Snickers erupted from inside the box, and it burst into bursts of tri-colored smoke. Three kids waved the smoke away and coughed as it entered their lungs.

"T-Too much gunpowder..."

With a start they realized that they had been revealed and quickly took to their poses.

A sickly looking student introduced himself first. "I'm the smartest at math, Udon!"

A red-head went next. "I'm the sexiest kunoichi in the Academy, Moegi!"

A familiar looking kid took the pose in the middle. "And I'm Konohamaru, the strongest ninja in the village!"

They all truck a pose in unison. "AND WE ARE THE KONOHAMARU CORPS!"

Their green goggles glinted in the sunlight, and Naruto stared blankly at them all, like he had done throughout their whole "introduction".

"Are those...goggles?"

Konohamaru nodded happily. "Yeah! We're wearing what you used to wear, boss!"

In all honesty, Kouseki thought that the little kiddies were cute enough to eat (and she didn't mean eat as in chomping into their arms, though they did look plump…).

The Hokage's grandson then noticed Akina standing there, calmly staying out of the whole, as Shikamaru would say, "troublesome situation." He smirked coyly at Naruto.

"Hey nii-san, is she your…" here he wiggled his pinky finger suggestively. Naruto shook his head and laughed.

"Nah! She's my teammate!"

He waved for her to come over. "Akina-chan. Meet Konohamaru, my successor and Prince of Pranks!"

Akina nodded at Konohamaru, who looked puzzled at the girl's behavior. Kouseki trotted up and barked in his face as a hello. He jumped a little before staring awed at the large wolf.

"Whoa..."

The other children joined in and all of them started petting Kouseki, who grumbled slightly but otherwise didn't refuse the attention. Naruto grinned at Kouseki's grumpy yet happy expression.

She barked again as an idea came to her. Akina translated.

"She says she's it." She also said: Don't worry, I won't bite you, even on accident. But Akina wisely omitted that.

The children all smiled and split up in different directions, running like their lives depended on it. The wolf looked like a good runner.

Konohamaru giggled and looked over his shoulder to see if Kouseki was going to catch him. With a grunt and a thud, he bumped into a Suna-nin wearing a black jumpsuit wearing a bandaged package on his back.

He snarled and picked up Konohamaru by his ridiculously long scarf and held the trembling boy in front of his face.

"Watch where you're goin', you brat!"

Kouseki arrived with the rest of the group to see Konohamaru at the mercy of the foreigner. Naruto stepped forward and pointed angrily at the face-painted ninja.

"OI! Let Konohamaru go!"

A blonde girl behind him looked bored as she lightly scolded him. "Stop it Kankurou, we don't want to cause trouble…"

The one named Kankurou ignored the warning and glared at Naruto.

"Or what? This brat bumped into me and he's gonna pay for it, Temari. And I bet this stupid Konoha-nin is too weak to stop me."

Temari rolled her eyes. "Whatever. This has nothing to do with me."

Akina felt Sasuke arrive in a nearby tree, along with three other people. They smelled like snake. Apparently Kouseki noticed to, because her hackles raised slightly. _Oto-nin._

She calmed her down by putting a hand on her back.

Naruto growled and charged at the Suna-nin. He smirked and tried to move his fingers to trip Naruto with chakra strings, but found that he couldn't move his fingers, or his hand, at all.

A smaller hand was keeping them from moving, and he looked up to see the blind-folded girl that was twelve feet away just a second ago.

While he was distracted, Naruto had rescued Konohamaru from Kankurou's clutches. Akina didn't let go until she was sure they were at a safe enough distance.

The Kazekage's eldest son scowled and reached for the bandaged thing on his back. His sister gasped.

"You're not going to use Karasu...?"

Akina sensed another presence appear behind Sasuke, and inwardly frowned. She could smell the tanuki sealed inside of him. He was a jinchuuriki, just like Naruto.

Just as Kankurou was about to pull Karasu off of his back, a rock smacked into his hand, discouraging the action.

Everyone looked up to see Sasuke juggling a few rocks in his hand. The Uchiha glared at the Sand ninja.

"You, what are you doing here? Foreign ninja shouldn't cause a disturbance…"

Kankurou smirked viciously. "So? What are you going to do about it?"

Sasuke caught the rocks and crushed them in his hand with the help of chakra. His glare hardened.

"Get lost."

Moegi and Temari blushed at his cool attitude. Naruto rolled his eyes and scowled, muttering about "stealing the spotlight."

"Kankurou…" came a soft and deadly voice.

Sasuke tensed and looked at the branch behind him to see a third Suna-nin, wearing a gourd on his back, standing upside down and staring at his brother with cold emerald eyes.

_Who is he? He managed to sneak up on me! He has stealth equal to Kakashi's…_

"Stop this nonsense. You're an embarrassment to our village."

Kankurou started sweating (Kouseki would swear later that he smelled like he was going to piss in his pants) and Temari shivered a little.

"T-This isn't what it l-looks like! These guys started it!"

The red-head glared. "Shut up. Or I'll kill you myself."

Kankurou gulped nervously. "R-Right…"

Gaara disappeared in a swirl of sand and reappeared in between his older siblings. He got up and stared at Team Seven.

"Sorry to you." It didn't sound like he meant it. He looked at the other two. "Let's go…"

"Matte (Wait)!"

They all stopped and looked back to see that Sasuke had spoken up and was pointing at the Gaara.

"What's your name?"

"Sabaku no Gaara," he looked at them all, "I am interested in your names as well."

Naruto grinned at the chance to show off but quickly crushed the feeling a little when he remembered what Kouseki said about it, translated and approved by Akina. That it would eventually get him killed someday if he did it too much, and besides, he wanted to look cool in front of the strangers.

"Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha." The grin stayed on his face, and Gaara thought he saw something familiar in his eyes, but he shook it off.

Sasuke jumped down next to his teammates. "Uchiha Sasuke."

The tanuki's jinchuuriki looked at Akina, wanting to hear her name as well.

"Takamaru Akina…" her voice was so quiet that the Suna-nin had to strain their ears to hear it. Naruto and Sasuke were used to her quiet voice, and as a result had better hearing.

Gaara nodded and walked away again. The voice in his head started screaming again, causing him to stop momentarily and clutch his head in pain.

'**I SMELL A DEMON WOLF AND THAT STUPID FOX! KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL AND BRING ME THAT RYUU'S HEAD! I WANT TO TASTE HER BLOOD! AHAHAHA!'**

_Demon wolf? Demon fox? Ryuu?_

He shook the voice and these confusing thoughts out of his mind. His siblings glanced worriedly at their younger brother before following him to their hotel.

When they turned the corner, Naruto turned to look at his teammates and the frightened children. "Neh…why were they here?"

"Chuunin Exam," answered the girl. The Oto-nin hiding in the tree left, satisfied with their job with spying on Sasuke and his team.

Naruto furrowed his brows in thought, after pouting for a moment at the fact that the girl apparently hadn't bothered to inform them of the coming event. "Isn't the Chuunin Exams where we get a chance to get ranked up to chuunin…?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes slightly, also slightly peeved at the lack of information, but had shrugged it off as Akina was always like this. "It's called 'Chuunin Exams' for a reason, dobe."

Konohamaru intervened before the argument got too loud. "That's right, nii-san!"

The orange ninja grinned in delight. "Perfect."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"I'm nominating you all to take the upcoming Chuunin Exams!" came the cheerful announcement.

Naruto jumped up and thrust his fist into the air. "YOSH! THANKS KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

He snatched the offered application and grinned foxily at it.

"The Chuunin Exams start at 4 pm at the Academy tomorrow, so if you want to come, don't be late!"

He disappeared before he could be verbally berated by Naruto for being a hypocrite and telling them about the Exams so late.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Naruto growled as an Ame-nin held a kunai to Moegi's neck.

"Let her go!"

The enemy ninja smirked. "You Konoha-nin are so weak. You might as well not apply for the Chuunin Exams."

With that, he took off into the forest, with Naruto close on his heels, to the disguised sensei's surprise.

_How did he get so fast that quickly?_

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

Iruka grinned at the jutsu and sneered at the ramen-lover. "That pathetic jutsu won't work on me…"

"Are you sure about that?" came a voice right next to his ear.

He whipped his head around and saw Naruto grinning at him, with another Naruto carrying a knocked out Moegi in his arms.

The Moegi in the 'Ame'-nin's grasp was surrounded by a cloud of smoke, revealing a Naruto Kage Bunshin.

All the Narutos in the clearing disappeared except for the one holding the former hostage.

"Nice try...Iruka-sensei."

The other ninja blinked before transforming back into Iruka, who was laughing. "How did you know, Naruto?"

The laughter trailed off as Naruto fell into a thoughtful silence. "Hmm. Dunno. I guess...well, you know how me an' Akina-chan an' Kouseki are neighbors? I don't remember when, but Akina-chan got my permission to use me as a guinea pig while she was practicing her genjutsu techniques. HA! Boy, am I glad she did!"

His former sensei made a mental note to thank the quiet girl some time in the future.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"Are you going?"

Akina and Sasuke looked up from their food to look at Naruto. Of course, Akina did it just to tell him that she was paying attention, since she couldn't see at all (and she still had her hitai-ate blind-folding her).

"Of course I am, baka. I need to get stronger, and the Chuunin Exams has people that I can use as a measuring stick to see how strong I am…"

Naruto blinked at how open Sasuke had just been to them, and decided to ignore the 'baka' comment…for now.

Sasuke was surprised at himself, too. He hated to admit it but…he felt comfortable around these two. Of course, he would never tell Naruto that…and Akina probably knew it already, with the way she knows everything…it was a little creepy, to tell the truth.

One of her favorite phrases came into his strangely peaceful mind (at least for now).

"_The blind can see more than you think."_

His thinking was interrupted by Naruto's loud voice. "Neh! Neh! Akina-chan! Are you going to enter, too?"

She nodded before continuing with her dinner.

To become a full ANBU (and get out of that hell-hole they called a Training Center, in Kouseki's opinion), she had to become a chuunin. She might as well make the man that treated her like a granddaughter happy by passing. He seemed much more trouble and old now that the threat of Orochimaru was here.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

On the other side of the village, two ninja were meeting on the rooftops. Both were Konoha-nin, though one was disguised as an Ame-nin.

He transformed back into Umino Iruka and looked up a little at a higher roof to see Kakashi leaning against a wall, reading by the moonlight.

"How did they do?"

Iruka bowed his head in apology. "They all passed…though the way Naruto-kun has improved amazes me…" He tilted his head before adding, as an afterthought, "I wonder if Akina-chan knows that she helped improve Naruto's genjutsu defenses?"

At Kakashi's blank look, Iruka hastened to explain himself. "Naruto-kun said that he let Akina-chan test out her genjutsu on him whenever she came over to visit his apartment." He frowned now in worry. "Which in hindsight was...kind of dangerous, now that I think about it."

Kakashi shrugged. "Akina wouldn't knowingly place someone else in danger like that. So I guess that she might have had some idea as to how it would affect Naruto. Impassive and quiet or not, she _does_ help out others in her own way every now and then."

The Academy sensei nodded at this description. It fit her, and she had always been like that, since she entered the Academy. It was strange though, how she was able to help so much, being a middle-ranked student.

"Who is she…?" he murmured to himself. Kakashi heard anyways and nodded at the question. He seemed to be asking himself that question often these days.

Who was Takamaru Akina?

* * *

YOSH! I'm done with this ultra long chapter! I hope you all like it (and sorry about half of it not being about the Chuunin Exams at all, but it was necessary to the plot, as you can see…).

And now the really good stuff is coming! (grins)

Please R&R and tell me what you think so far!


	10. Paper Test

_October 3rd, 2008: Gawds, I'm sick...again. It's flu season now, and my body seems to have gotten into the habit of getting me sick every October. Every. Single. One. And if it isn't a flu, it's the cold. It just so happens that I got this one from my sister. ...Hmmph! No free candy on Halloween...aww...since I'm prolly gonna still be sick then, too._

As an interesting side note, I drew some sketches of Akina…for some odd reason I can only draw heads well…I hate drawing hands. But doodling is fun, (smiles).

"Talking"

_Thinking_

("Animals Talking" / _"Telepathy from animals through mind seal/jutsu"_ )

"**Demon Language" / 'Demon talking telepathically with their host'**

_'Miscellaneous things such as signs, ANBU sign language, letters...'_

Disclaimer: I don't own the Hell Song by Linkin Park or Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

**:;Seeing the Truth;:**

**Chapter 10: Paper Test  
**

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Naruto woke up to the sound of rock music playing outside of his bright bedroom. He mumbled in his sleep and turned his body away from the door, towards his window.

"Five more minutes..."

Akina heard this downstairs, despite the loud music, and snapped her fingers, earning a questioning glance from Sasuke, who was quietly eating breakfast.

A scream from upstairs cleared up his confusion.

"AAHH! THE LIGHT! IT BURNS!"

An amused smirk appeared on his face before he returned to eating.

Fifteen minutes later, Naruto trudged down the stairs, rubbing his eyes in attempt to get those spots he was seeing to go away. As a result he didn't see Sasuke's expression (something that the other boy was slightly thankful for), and wandered over to the cabinet to get some ramen out of it.

Well, he tried to, but the door just wouldn't budge. He put a foot against the cabinet next to it and pulled harder, but it wouldn't work. He heard Kouseki snickering behind him and turned around to pout at Akina.

"Akina-chaaaaaan! Why can't I have ramen for breakfast?"

She ignored his whining and continued cooking Naruto his breakfast, having already eaten early that morning.

"Nutrition."

("Ahahahahaha!")

At this point, Sasuke decided to join in the conversation. "Yeah, baka. It's a miracle you're not fat from eating so much of that ramen…"

Naruto shook his fist at the Uchiha threateningly and scowled. "Urusei!"

Akina placed about five plates of bacon, eggs, pancakes, and waffles in front of Naruto, walking over to the boom box in the living room to change the song.

Living with each other for the past month had been…interesting, to say the least. They learned a lot about each other, and some things were meant to be kept within these walls.

Sasuke found out that Naruto occasionally talked in his sleep and had nightmares frequently. And Akina always used to wake up to go into his apartment to calm him down, unknown to Naruto. Apparently she'd been doing this for the last few years since they had the keys to each other's apartments. Now, however, there was no need to. Just having three of his closest precious ones living in the same house as him calmed the atmosphere somewhat, allowing him to sleep better.

It was ironic now that he thought about it. Akina was, after all, younger than both the boys by almost half a year.

He listened to the song now blasting out of the speakers. The Hell Song by Sum 41 came on, making Akina smile a little before it disappeared.

_Everybody's got their problems_

_Everybody says the same things to you_

_It's just a matter how you solve them_

_And knowing how to change the things you've been through_

_I feel I've come to realize_

_How fast life can be compromised_

_Step back to see what's going on_

_I can't believe this happened to you_

_This happened to you_

The last Konoha Uchiha also found out that Akina liked to listen to rock music, and would frequently turn it up so that it can be heard through out the house. This puzzled him and when he finally got her alone to ask her why, she told him that it relieved any stress and trained her to be alert even with the loud music trying to overpower any other sounds.

_It's just a problem that I'm faced with am I_

_Not the only one who hates to stand by_

_Complications that are first in this line_

_With all these pictures running through my mind_

_Knowing endless, consequences_

_I feel so useless in this_

_Get back, Step back, and as_

_For me I can't believe_

_Part of me, won't agree_

_Cause I don't know if it's for sure_

_Suddenly, suddenly_

_I don't feel so insecure_

All three kids paused in their different activities (Naruto: shoving food in his face, Sasuke: reading a scroll from the Uchiha main house, Akina: sharpening her weapons) at certain verses.

_Part of me, won't agree_

_Cause I don't know if it's for sure_

_Suddenly, suddenly_

_I don't feel so insecure_

_Anymore_

.

_Everybody's got their problems_

_Everybody says the same things to you_

_It's just a matter how you solve them_

_But what else are we supposed to do_

An aura of approval radiated from Akina as she continued to check over all of her weapons in preparation for the Exams. The boys noticed and figured that this song suited how she felt now, seeing as she changed it to this song.

They went back to what they were doing. It was 10 am now.

_Part of me, won't agree_

_Cause I don't know if it's for sure_

_Suddenly, suddenly_

_I don't feel so insecure_

_Part of me, won't agree_

_Cause I don't know if it's for sure_

_Suddenly, suddenly_

_I don't feel so insecure_

_Anymore_

When Naruto was finished eating, Akina beckoned her teammates over to the living room, which had an empty bowl sitting on the coffee table in between the couches. They sat down and looked questionably at her, confusion in their auras.

_Why do things that matter the most_

_Never end up being our choice_

_Now that I find no way so bad_

_I don't think I knew I what I had_

_Why do things that matter the most_

_Never end up being our choice_

_Now that I find no way so bad_

_I don't think I knew I what I had_

In response she just took out a scroll that she was hiding and opened it up to show them.

It described a seal for a permanent telepathic connection. They looked on in interest and read it thoroughly. The boys didn't question where she got such a scroll, assuming that she wouldn't tell them. And she wouldn't have, since Kouseki was the one that gave it to her without an explanation.

First, they had to mix the blood of all who were going to be connected using the seal. Akina took out a kunai and slit her wrist gently, letting the blood flow and drop into the bowl on the table. There was no flinch or cry of pain.

She passed the bloody kunai to Sasuke and Naruto, who did the same and let Akina wrap their wounds. She did Naruto's quickly before the cut healed itself, leading Naruto to suspect that she knew. But when she did the bandaging at the same pace with Sasuke, that suspicion went away.

Akina picked up a paint brush and mixed their blood. When she was satisfied, she took off her headband, keeping her eyes closed. The others did the same, after getting over their surprise at seeing the girl's uncovered face (and being slightly disappointed at not seeing her eyes).

She picked up her headband and let Sasuke look at his reflection as he drew the seal on his forehead. Akina and Naruto sat still and let Sasuke draw the seals on them as well, since he had the steadiest hand (much to Naruto's annoyance) and could actually _see_.

In unison they did the large number of hand seals, combining their chakra (Naruto grinned in triumph when he realized that the tree climbing exercise helped with his control). All three of their seals glowed blue when they neared the end.

"Seishin Fuuin (Mind seal)!"

There was a searing pain in all of their heads as the ink seeped into their skin and disappeared. Akina was the first to recover.

"_It worked…"_

"_YOSH!"_

The other two flinched at the extremely loud thought and showed their irritation through the seal (and a glare from Sasuke).

Kouseki looked interested at their facial expressions from the mental conversation.

("You guys are making such weird faces…you look like idiots.")

The boys turned their heads to glare at Kouseki before realizing that they _understood_ her. Naruto's jaw dropped.

"Wh-What the hell?"

The wolf blinked. ("You can understand me?")

They nodded. Akina sighed and tied her headband back on. "I thought this would happen…a warning in advance: Kouseki has a potty mouth."

Kouseki looked away innocently. ("…No I don't…all right, yes I do.")

Naruto grinned at the new possibilities now that they could all talk telepathically. Sasuke smirked before looking at Akina for an explanation.

"I can understand Kouseki through my bloodline. Our minds are connected. Therefore you can understand animals…it might not be such a good thing at times, though…"

"What are you talking about? This is awesome!"

Kouseki grinned. ("You might not be thinking that when I get through with you, gaki.")

He sweat dropped at this threat and laughed nervously. So this is what Akina had to put up with for half of her life.

_That's actually not exactly the reason..._ Akina had actually meant that being able to understand animals might become a distraction. But she didn't say so—they'd gotten the general gist of it.

Sasuke took this new ability as an advantage and went back to reading the scroll. Naruto pouted again before getting up to help Akina with the dishes.

The feeling of being connected like this strangely comforted all of them, and they stayed silent, basking in the feeling.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Team Seven walked through the Academy's front doors, going through the nostalgic hallways towards the crowd gathering in front of room 301. Another team walked next to them wearing Konoha headbands.

Naruto spared them a glance and recognition came onto his face when he saw Lee from one of his previous years at the Academy when he joined early. The spandex-wearing ninja felt his gaze and blinked when he looked at the strangely familiar orange jumpsuit.

They pointed at each other in unison.

"Gejimaru...?" "Naruto-kun...?"

Their teammates stopped walking to look at them grinning at each other like long lost friends.

((AN: Screw it. I'm not describing the characters like I don't know who they are anymore. It's annoying, and I'd only need to do that if someone was _completely_ new to the Naruto series, which you aren't, since you're reading _fan fiction_.))

Tenten blinked curiously at the two ninja. "You two know each other?"

Lee put hand on Naruto's shoulder and nodded, eyes sparkling. "That is correct! Naruto-kun and I used to train with each other in our Academy years, although I haven't seen him in over a year…"

Neji snorted and sneered at the two. "A dead last will stay a dead last. That is their fate."

Kouseki frowned. ("Who shoved the stick up his ass?") _Though he does have a valid reason for acting like this…kinda. He's going overboard on the angst, though…Too much angst; too much emo..._

The two dead lasts scowled at the previous Rookie of the Year. Lee clenched his fists. "Just wait, Neji-san! I shall prove to you someday that hard work can surpass a genius!"

A fire burned in his eyes, and extreme determination could be found on both of their faces. Akina let a little pride seep through the telepathic connection to show her approval to her teammates.

She turned around and started walking towards the stairs, with Kouseki and Sasuke following. At the end of the hallway, they stopped and waited for Naruto to catch up. He noticed and waved cheerfully at Lee, promising to fight with him later, before running to his team.

Team Ten watched them leave, unnoticed by the crowd. When they ascended the stairs to the second floor, Tenten frowned and tilted her head in confusion.

"Who was that girl, and why was she blindfolded? Is she crazy? This is the Chuunin Exams!"

Lee took a lecturing pose. "That is Takamaru Akina-san, Naruto-kun's teammate. He told me soon after we met that she is a blind ninja and apparently skipped a year, graduating with Naruto-kun's former classmates," the fire came back into his eyes, "I must test myself against her as well!"

Tenten felt slightly bad about calling Akina crazy (guilt for mocking a handicapped person). Neji made no reaction to this new information and instead decided to follow Team Seven's example in getting to the room where the Exam was being held.

And so both teams left the two chuunin in disguise to play around with the genin that couldn't see that they were on the _second_ floor and not the _third _floor.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Team Seven made themselves comfortable sitting in empty desks near the back of the classroom in order to observe everyone coming in. They were about an hour early, giving them time to check out the competition.

Naruto leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet onto the desk, pillowing his head with his hands.

"_Hey guys. Ya think we're taking some sort of paper test? We're in the classroom…"_

Sasuke leaned forward in his chair and rested his chin on his folded fingers.

"_Probably."_

Akina put her head in her arms on the desk and appeared to be sleeping. But her friends (Sasuke would refuse to acknowledge this if asked in public) could sense her keeping track of the entire building.

Kouseki lay down next to the kids since they were sitting at the end of the tables, closer to the door. Her ear twitched when she heard a familiar yell of happiness.

The doors slammed open to reveal Team Eight, with Kiba leading the way. He attracted the attention of the entire room (half of it was filled up so far) as a result and he just grinned at them.

Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru scanned the room and spotted Team Seven as the only people they knew. Hinata shuffled inside after her teammates, staring shyly at the ground when she had felt all the genin look at them.

Akamaru jumped off of Kiba's head and ran towards Kouseki, who opened her eyes when he came near.

("Hey! Kouseki-sempai!") he nuzzled Kouseki's mane in respect to the older canine. She grunted.

("Hey Akamaru-chan.")

"_Act like you can't understand what they're saying."_

Mental nods were exchanged. No one needed to know their little connection.

The rest of Team Eight came over to stand in front of Team Seven. Kiba stepped in front of Akina and noticed she was in actuality awake due to the fact that she would never nap in public like this in the first place, so he just grinned and sat on top of the table in front of her.

Hinata hid behind a stoic Shino whenever she noticed Naruto looking in her direction. The bug-user stood still at the silent request for a human shield. He nodded in greeting to his fellow Konoha-nin.

About thirty minutes later, Team Nine walked in through the doors. Ino looked psyched for some reason, but her teammates didn't look like they cared. Chouji was munching on potato chips and Shikamaru had a "What the hell am I doing here again?" face.

The Yamanaka immediately spotted Sasuke and dashed over to talk to him.

"Sasuke-kuuuuuun!"

She glomped her object of affection and nuzzled him. He stiffened considerably.

"I missed you! We haven't talked for so long!"

"_I wouldn't call what she does talking…"_ came Naruto's thought. If Kouseki heard she would have agreed and added her own two cents, but unfortunately, she wasn't a part of the seal.

"Ino-san."

The blonde stopped cuddling and looked up to see where the voice came from. It was then that she noticed Akina resting her head next to Sasuke. She immediately scowled and let go of Sasuke, much to his relief.

"So you're awake? Figures you'd fall asleep when we're in the Chuunin Exam. Is the pressure too much for you?"

The other girl didn't attempt to move or acknowledge Ino's insults. She quietly drew her attention away from her teammate. Ino snarled.

"Answer me, you damn bitch!" she screeched.

"Hey…you guys should stop making so much noise over here…this isn't a field trip, you know."

The Rookie Nine looked at a silver haired genin that was frowning disapprovingly in their direction walking towards them.

("He smells like snake…") was Kouseki's first analysis. The ones that could understand her brushed it off as her usual comments, but Akina acknowledged it by twitching her fingers slightly, still resting. She could smell it, too, though it was extremely faint and hardly noticeable.

In the jounin lounge across the street, Kakashi looked up from his book and into the window of the classroom all the chuunin-hopefuls were in. Kurenai and Asuma noticed and followed his line of vision. Asuma smirked.

"Worried about your brats, eh? It doesn't seem like you…"

Kakashi shrugged after seeing Akina's hands go into a certain position when she re-adjusted her headband after Kabuto started talking to them.

_Possible spy._

Kabuto took out a deck of cards and showed it to them. He picked up the card on top, flipped it over, and activated using his chakra. In a small poof of smoke, a diagram of the Elemental Countries and the ninja coming from each Hidden Village popped up.

Naturally, since the 3-D images were just that, images, she couldn't sense or find a way to "see" what they were looking at and stuck to listening to the explanation.

"Do you have info cards on specific shinobi?" asked Sasuke. This got his team's attention.

Kabuto nodded and got ready to pick out another card. "Yeah," he shuffled the deck, "Any requests?"

He nodded briefly. "Sabaku no Gaara."

Naruto thought for a bit before grinning sheepishly at Kabuto. "Can we see our own cards, too?"

Kabuto pushed up his glasses with a hand. "Names?"

"Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Takamaru Akina."

The silver haired genin didn't react at all to the name "Uchiha", which was actually a strange thing, and complied with their requests. He skillfully shuffled the deck before picking out four, fanning them out. He put one down and fused it with a little chakra. Another poof of ninja smoke and Gaara's profile came up.

Kabuto took the opportunity to read it out loud.

"Sabaku no Gaara of Sunagakure. His teammates are his siblings, Sabaku no Temari and Sabaku no Kankurou. Sensei: Baki of the Wind. These three are the descendants of all the Kazekage. An unknown amount of D-Rank missions, 8 C-Rank missions, and…amazing. One B-Rank. That's pretty hard to get as a genin. He's a foreign ninja, so I don't have that much information on him, but…

It seems that he has returned from all of his missions without so much as a scratch."

Shikamaru's eyes widened. "He did a B-Rank mission and came back unharmed?"

Naruto and Sasuke frowned at this new information.

Kabuto put the card back into his deck of cards and picked up the three cards that he had already taken out, fanning them out for show. The other members of the "Rookie Nine" looked on with interest. He was going to show Team Seven's profiles next, and they wanted to see what their former classmates have been up to during the past few months.

He pumped chakra into all three cards, causing a larger burst of smoke than usual because of the simultaneous activation.

But before the silver-haired genin could read the cards, they were snatched out of his hand by none other than Naruto, who immediately scanned over the cards and frowned at the large amount of information. Kiba blinked, then scowled.

"Read it out loud!"

Naruto just grinned and handed the cards to Akina, who had "woken up".

"No."

And with that, Akina cupped the cards in her hand and shredded the cards to dust with her chakra, careful not to show that she didn't need to use chakra to control the wind and rip things up.

Before Kiba or anyone else (including Kabuto, who was now frowning because his cards were destroyed) could yell or ask why they did that, Sasuke stepped into the conversation.

"Mind your own business. We like to keep our surprises secret."

Kabuto just nodded. "So I guess you aren't _all_ wet-eared rookies after all. Smart move."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Kakashi smirked behind the cover of his book in the jounin lounge while his fellow ninja chatted about the first phase of the Chuunin Exams. He half-listened to the conversation.

"I think my team will do great on this Exam. I have confidence in them," proclaimed Asuma.

The copy-nin just shook his head. "I wouldn't say that. I heard that Ibiki was the proctor for the first phase."

Asuma immediately grimaced. "Damn."

Kurenai blinked and tilted her head. "Ibiki? Who's that? What's wrong with him giving the exam?"

The Sarutobi just shook his head. "You're a rookie-jounin, so you wouldn't know who he is. Morino Ibiki. He's a pro."

"A pro? At...?"

Asuma blew out some smoke before smirking back at the genjutsu master. "Torture and Interrogation."

When Kurenai gasped lightly, Kakashi continued the description.

"Although there will be no physical torturing in the exam...I'm sure the students are going to be feeling some mental stress through his interrogation skills. Konoha ANBU's torture and interrogation squad leader. Morino Ibiki."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"SHUT THE HELL UP AND SIT DOWN! You! Oto-nin! Stop fighting or we'll fail you! This is your first and last warning!"

(_"He reminds me of that ANBU sensei of yours…what was his name again? Ah, right. Enkou."_)

Some genin in the room shared a collective shiver down their backs. The ninja with more backbone stood their ground and stared back at the black-clad proctor without as much as a flinch.

Morino Ibiki inwardly grinned at the prospect of getting to turn these genin into mentally disturbed vegetables.

Dosu turned towards Ibiki. "I'm sorry. I was excited, since this is my first exam."

The interrogator just smirked slightly in response before all traces of emotion was wiped from his face.

"This is a good chance to say this. You aren't allowed to fight each other during the exams unless you're given permission by the examiners. Even if you are given permission, you are not allowed to kill each other. Those who go against me will fail immediately, understood?"

The air was thick, and all was quiet.

"We will now begin the first exam of the Chuunin Selection Exams. Turn in your applications, take one of these number tags, and sit where the number tells you to. Then we will pass out the papers for the written exam."

Naruto's eye twitched slightly at the words "written exam".

Everyone got out of their seats and moved as one towards the front of the classroom, where Ibiki and two other examiners (Kotetsu and some other chuunin) were giving out the numbers. Much to Ibiki's amusement and slight disappointment, no one went into his line, leaving him to watch the genin cast wary eyes towards him.

Naruto got up out of his seat and paused for a moment before nodding towards his team mates.

Under the watchful eyes of the other chuunin scattered on the edges of the classroom, he walked slowly and confidently up to Ibiki, whose eyebrows rose slightly when he was given Naruto's application. Sasuke shook his head in slight exasperation before following his example, as well as Akina.

One by one, the Rookie Nine marched up towards Ibiki and got their numbers, sitting down without another word. The proctor's eyes followed Naruto towards his seat.

_He's an interesting guy…_

When everyone was seated, Naruto looked around, looking for his teammates. He scowled when he realized that they were all separated. A glance to the side made him realize that Hinata was sitting next to him, nervously playing with her fingers. He had vaguely noticed her sitting next to him from the beginning but she seemed to have mastered the art of being invisible.

He gave a bright smile and a nod.

"Let's do our best Hinata-chan!"

The blush on her face deepened and the Hyuuga was left trying to get her mouth to function properly before she managed a quiet and strangled "H-Hai…"

From the back of the classroom, Sasuke took note of where everybody was and found that Akina was in the middle of the right side, and Naruto was near the front of the left side. _It's not a problem…it's a good thing that Akina had that mind linking scroll._

Kouseki scowled and growled lowly when she realized that she couldn't fit into the space behind Akina's chair. A couple genin standing nearby moved a little away from the pissed wolf. She contented herself with sitting in front of the examiners sitting along the right wall, nearest to Akina.

Sasuke and Akina could feel a mental grin coming from Naruto. "_Kouseki-chan doesn't seem too happy...she looks like she wants to eat the next person that pisses her off."_

A loud tapping sound from the front of the classroom got all of the rowdy and nervous genin to pay attention. Ibiki was holding a chalk stick and was scowling at them all.

"This first exam has a few rules. I will not accept any questions so listen carefully. First rule is you are all given 10 points at the start. The written exam consists of 10 questions, and each is worth one point. This test is a deduction based test."

He started writing down the rules on the board as he talked.

"If you get one problem wrong, you will get one point deducted. If you get three problems wrong, you points will be reduced to 7."

This seemed reasonable enough.

"Second rule, the pass-fail decision will be determined by your team's total points."

A slam brought their attention to Ino, who was now glaring at Ibiki with a red mark on her forehead. Kiba resisted the urge to snort. She must've slammed her head on the desk in her surprise. Kouseki held no such reserve. She snorted loudly and ignored any and all strange looks. _She_ wasn't the one being tested, after all.

"Matte matte! Your team's total points? What?!"

"Shut up! There is a reason for this. Just shut your trap and listen. Now that you know, let's move onto the next rule. If an examiner determines that you cheated or did something similar during the test…each action will cost you to lose 2 points."

There were several cries or gasps of disbelief throughout the room.

"In other words, there will be people who will be forced to leave this place without their tests being graded. Those who try to cheat without thinking carefully will only hurt themselves."

Kotetsu, who had seated himself by the windows, smirked at them. "We'll "check" you at any time."

This only served to thicken the already tense atmosphere. Ibiki continued.

"You are all trying to become Chuunin. If you are a ninja, act like a first-rate one."

Ino tried to calm herself down as she thought over the rules again. _It's okay. The Sasuke-kun and the bitch can get enough points to pass, even if Naruto fails._

"Also, if anyone in a team gets a zero, everyone on that team will fail."

This completely shattered her sense of calmness. "Eh?!"

The blonde Yamanaka glared at Naruto, who immediately felt her trying to drill a hole into the back of this head.

"_Oi, Sasuke-teme. Your lackey doesn't want you to fail and might try something."_

"_Let her, dobe. She should know better than to doubt the team that I'm on."_

Akina gave no comment, so the other two just assumed that she agreed.

"The last problem will be given 45 minutes after the exam begins. You have one hour for the exam."

("It's 3:30. That means that at 4:30, the exam will end, and at 4:15, the last question will be given. Good luck, gakis.") grinned the black wolf.

"BEGIN!"

Tests were flipped over, and the tense atmosphere doubled in thickness when everyone saw the questions. Sasuke immediately scanned all the questions.

_Number 2. The parabola, B, represents a shuriken's maximum throwing distance of the enemy ninja, A, from a height of 7 meters. Figure out the trait of the enemy ninja that can be observed from the eclipse formed by the shuriken, and figure out the maximum throwing distance on flat ground. Explain your reasoning._

Akina did the same and, for show, ran her fingers over all the words so that no one should suspect that she is more skilled than they think. _Hmm. A compound question that involves figuring out facts from indefinite conditions and physical analysis. Even some chuunin wouldn't know the answer to this question, so everybody in this room shouldn't be able to figure this out…Morino Ibiki, neh?_

Sasuke looked at the rest of the questions and smirked slightly. _I see. I don't understand. Not even one question…_ He gave up trying to figure out the questions for glancing at the chuunin surrounding them. _They seem to be really cautious…It's almost as if they're assuming that we're going to cheat._

He ran over all of the rules in his head again. _Two-point deduction, eh? Normally, you would be kicked out if you're found cheating just once. I see, I get it. This wasn't just a test to test our knowledge. It's true purpose is…to also be a test to see one's information gathering skills using camouflaging and concealment methods._

The other ninja in the room seemed to have come to this conclusion as well, since Sasuke heard a small scoff from Kiba.

_Ninja need to think beyond the normal, right? In other words, the examiner really wants us to not cheat without thinking carefully…But to do it like a first-rate ninja…And not be caught. If I think about it that way, everything makes sense. So, what's being tested here is to not get detected by either the examiners or the one who's being cheated from…and to gather correct answers. _

He relayed this to his team mates. "_We have to cheat…"_

"_Hai."_ Was both of their replies.

All around the room, people started to use their different skills to cheat. Akina immediately singled out a person that was furiously scribbling down his answers and gave his position to her teammates.

She zoned in on his paper and started copying his answers from the feeling of the markings that his pencil made on the paper. Sasuke spotted him and activated his Sharingan, writing down the answers at the same pace and trusting Akina to give him the answers that he missed.

Naruto grinned when he realized that he had nothing to do, since his teammates were getting the answers. His thoughts went back to Ino, and his grin grew. A mischievous glint appeared in his sapphire eyes.

("Oi…don't give me the answers until 4:10.")

Sasuke and Akina recognized that tone in his voice and the Uchiha mentally shook his head at the Uzumaki's inner prankster.

Hinata glanced to the side and noticed Naruto's paper was still blank. She kept her head facing the front of the room and stage-whispered to him.

"Naruto-kun…I'll show you my…test."

Naruto blinked before shaking his head. "Nah. I wouldn't want you to get into trouble for me."

She blushed harder. _He cares!_

Not five seconds later, a kunai was launched, just making it past his head and onto the paper of a boy sitting behind him. Naruto was still grinning, having not moved an inch. Kotetsu smirked at the other genin and failed him. After this team got failed, the numbers started to go down rapidly.

With that, Naruto looked back down at his own paper and grinned again, picking up his pencil. He flipped over the paper and started doodling his masterpiece for Ino to see if she ever decided to "drop in." He quickly filled up all the space on that side, so he just shrugged inwardly and flipped it back to draw around the spaces where he was supposed to write his answers.

Sasuke finished his copying when the chuunin in disguise set down his pencil, satisfied with his paper. He exchanged answers with Akina privately, and waited out the rest of the first 40 minutes until they had to tell Naruto the answers.

Near the back of the room, Ino was nervously watching Naruto napping after he finished doodling. _What if his answers are wrong? If he fails, my Sasuke-kun will fail, too!_ With that thought, she formed the seal for her clan's technique.

She leaned her chin on the seal to conceal its true purpose, aiming it at Naruto. _Shintenshin no jutsu!_

She slumped in her chair as she felt herself possessing Naruto's body.

Ino woke up inside Naruto's slightly shorter body and looked down at his paper, letting her mouth hang. A vein appeared on the side of her head and vaguely in the back of her mind, Naruto was clearly laughing his ass off.

She vigorously erased an answer and penciled in the correct one, nearly snapping the pencil from the pressure. Ino gritted her teeth. _One correct answer should be enough for this little brat…_

With that, she formed the release seal and escaped back into her own body, leaving Sasuke and Kouseki wonder what the hell just happened. Ibiki saw the whole thing happen and just shook his head slightly. This was supposed to be a nerve-wracking exam, not a time for little pranks.

Ten minutes later, after relaying the answer to Naruto who didn't bother to erase his picture (and instead opted to squish in his answers in between the doodles), the large proctor got their attention again, simply by talking.

"Looks like we've already gotten rid of the idiots. I will now give the problem, since 45 minutes have passed. All right, I will now give the 10th problem!"

Sasuke scoffed inwardly. "_Hmmph. Took you long enough."_

"But before that, there's one more thing I must say…There will be one special rule for this last question."

The door in the back opened, and in came Kankurou with his disguised puppet examiner, Karasu.

"Good, you came back in time. Your puppet show didn't go to waste."

The puppeteer just tensed slightly before walking back to his seat, discreetly delivering a small folded piece of paper to Temari, containing the answers.

("Oh Kami-sama, I can smell the bathroom from here…") came Kouseki's groan, having gotten bored of staying quiet and just woke up from her nap.

"I will now explain. This is…a hopeless rule. First, you are all going to choose if you wish to take this tenth problem or not."

This perked Kouseki's interest. ("Morino Ibiki…he's an interesting guy…I like him.") She grinned at his mental torture, unknowingly stealing his favorite phrase.

"Choose? So what happens if we don't take the tenth problem?" demanded Temari.

"If you choose not to take it, your points will be reduced to zero. In other words, you will fail. Your other two teammates will fail along with you."

There were some cries of disbelief. What idiot in their right mind would just let themselves fail?

"Of course we're going to take it!"

"Teammates also failing is bullshit!"

"And here is the other rule," he continued, as if he hadn't been interrupted, "If you choose to take it and you get it wrong, you will…lose the privilege to take the Chuunin Exams forever."

Kiba stood up in outrage and pointed accusingly at Ibiki. "What kind of dumb rule is that?! There should be those here who have taken the Chuunin Exams in the past!"

Akamaru barked in agreement with his master.

Then, Ibiki started doing something that completely surprised all that were in the room.

He started chuckling.

"You were unlucky. This year, I am the rule. That is why I gave you the opinion to quit. Those who are not confident can choose to not take it, and take the exam next year, or the year after that." He chuckled some more.

"Let us begin. Those who will not be taking this tenth question, raise your hands. After we confirm your numbers, we will have you leave."

An older genin (he looked over 20 years old) sitting on the other side of Naruto dropped his pencil and stood up. "I…I…I quit! I won't take it!"

"Number 50, fail. Number 130 and 111, fail along with him," called out Izumo.

"I'm sorry...Gennai, Inaho. Dammit."

"Me too!"

Many other people started raising their hands and filing out of the room.

_If there's one thing I hate more than anything, it's cowards who never believe in what they're doing._ Naruto's eyes went to Hinata at this, wondering how she could get more confidence in herself.

Hinata was playing with her fingers more nervously than usual, and was looking timidly at her paper. Memories of her childhood replayed across her mind's eye. Her father's voice echoed in her mind, calling her a weak heir, not worthy of the Hyuuga name. Her confidence dropped lower, and, her hand shaking, started to rise into the air, alerting the Rookie Nine, and Neji's team to her possible withdrawal.

Naruto whispered to her from between gritted teeth. "Hinata! What the hell are you doing?"

She offered him a small smile, her hand freezing halfway up for a moment. "I-I'm sorry…Naruto-kun…"

He scowled. "_Akina-chan!"_

"_Hai."_

The blind girl stopped her arm from moving with her supremacy over air, not moving a muscle. Hinata blinked when her arm refused to move. Slowly, it lowered, whether she wanted it to or not.

And then, much to everyone's surprise, Naruto raised his hand instead, keeping his head facing downward and causing his bangs to conceal his eyes. Kouseki blinked and sat back to watch the show that she knew was coming.

_Oh..? _came Ibiki's interested thought. Naruto's hand went high up, and then slammed into the desk as he looked back up and grinned at Ibiki's face.

"Screw you! I'm not going to run away! I'll take this problem! Even if I be a genin forever, I'm going to become a Hokage no matter what anyways!"

He stood up. "I CAN'T SCARE ME OFF!" Ibiki's face remained emotionless even when Naruto sat back down and kept grinning defiantly at Ibiki.

_He has quite a spirit…_ thought Sasuke.

_That's right baka-chan. Shove the idea of scaring you right back at their faces! _Kouseki grinned and chuckled from the sidelines.

_Naruto-kun…that was…amazing._

"I will ask one more time. This is the choice that will impact your life. If you want to quit, now is the chance."

"I'm not going to take back my words. That's my nindo."

Ibiki scanned the room again and found that everyone was giving off an air of confidence, and most of the genin that knew Naruto were also smirking slightly at this speech that everyone had expected him to give. _Interesting kid. He wiped out everyone's uncertainty. 78 students, eh? There's more left than I expected. Looks like there's no point in waiting any longer._

He looked at the chuunin surrounding the room and received nods from all of them, and grins from Kotetsu and Izumo. Ibiki nodded back.

"Nice determination. Then…For the First Exam, everyone here…passes!"

Confusion filtered into the room and Kouseki started howling with laughter at the looks on their faces. Fortunately, she was ignored by all but the slightly nervous chuunin sitting next to her when the genin started muttering to themselves.

"Wait! What about the tenth question?"

Ibiki grinned. "There was no such thing to begin with. Or you can call the two-choice question the tenth question."

"Nani?"

"Oi! So what were those precious nine problems?! It was all a waste!" yelled out Temari.

"No it's not. The nine problems accomplished their purpose. The purpose to test each individual's information gathering skills."

"Information gathering skills?"

"First, this test's purpose lies in the first rule…Your pass-fail decision is based on your three person teams. By giving that idea, we pressured you into trying not to be a nuisance to your team. But these test problems cannot be solved by you genin. So, most of the people here must have come to the same conclusion…"I have to cheat to get points." In other words, this exam assumed that everyone was going to cheat. So, we snuck in two chuunin who knew the answers to be targets of cheating."

Here, the two chuunin in disguise raised their hands and waved a bit.

"But those who just cheated like idiots failed, of course."

He untied his bandanna hitai ate and revealed what was underneath it. Many genin gaped.

His bald head was covered in numerous scars that were obviously made by means of torture.

Despite being the best genin in their respective villages, the fact that they were still genin meant that they were not yet immune to such sights.

"Why? Information can have greater value than life at times, and in missions and battlefields…the lives of people will depend on it."

("Burnt marks, screw holes, and cut marks…this guy's been through a lot.") Even Kouseki's voice was serious when she looked over his scarred head. ("_Morino Ibiki, Head of ANBU's Torture and Interrogation Squad,"_) she thought to Akina, who just sent back a mental nod. Akina knew that the wolf was just repeating information that the girl gave her, being an ANBU Trainee.

Ibiki tied his hitai ate back on. "The information that an enemy gets after being noticed by a third person will not necessarily be accurate. Remember this. Getting incorrect information can cause great damage to your teammates and village. So, we made you all gather information in the form of cheating. We kicked out those who were lacking in that field. That's what went on."

"But what about the last question?" The ticked off Temari wanted to know why.

"But this tenth question was the main question of this First Exam. Let me explain. The tenth question was a 'take or not take' choice. Needless to say, it was a lose-lose situation. Those who did not take it failed with their teams. If you chose to take it, and could not answer it…Your right to take the exam would have been taken away forever."

He started to pace in front of the classroom as he lectured the class of genin.

"How about this problem…Let's assume that you have become a chuunin. Your mission is to capture a secret document. The number of enemy ninja, their abilities, and armaments are unknown. And there may be traps that the enemy ninja have set up. Now, will you accept this mission or not? Just because your life and the lives of your teammates may be in danger, are you able to avoid dangerous missions? The answer is…

No. There are missions that carry heavy risks, but cannot be avoided. The ability to show your courage to your teammates when needed, and the ability to get through a bad situation…That is what we look for in a chuunin, a squad leader.

Those who cannot bet their fate in a critical situation…Those who give up when given the chance because there is a next year, and let their minds sway over an uncertain future…

Fools who only carry a light determination like that have no right to become a chuunin. That is what I believe. I am saying that you here who have chosen to take it gave the right answer for the difficult tenth question.

You can deal with the difficulties you will face. You have broken through the entrance. The First Exam of the Chuunin Selection ends now. I wish you luck."

"YOSH!!" Naruto pumped his fist into the air in victory, grinning like there was not tomorrow. He gave a thumbs-up to Hinata, who was still a little shaken from almost getting her team kicked out when there really was no tenth question. She blushed immensely and started to feel faint.

Kouseki's ear twitched as she sensed someone hurtling towards the window at high speeds. ("Eh?")

The glass shattered as a mass of black blurred into the room, unfolding and attaching to the walls and floor with kunai. A certain purple haired kunoichi skidded to a halt after her flight and grinned at them all.

_Geez…_ came Ibiki's exasperated thought.

Naruto played a fanfare through the team's mind link as they read the black banner.

'_Second Examiner, Mitarashi Anko is here!'_

"Everybody, this is no time to be happy! I am the Second Examiner, Mitarashi Anko! Let's go to the next exam!"

She thrust her fist into the air much like Naruto had done. "Follow me!"

The entire classroom fell into a shocked silence, staring at the grinning proctor.

Kouseki grinned and wagged her thick tail. She liked her attitude already.

("She's…just like you and Naruto…") said a dumbfounded Akamaru. The rest of their friends apparently thought so, too, because they were all staring rather blankly at Naruto, who just flashed them a grin and a victory sign.

Ibiki sighed and shuffled from behind the overly large banner. "Grasp the atmosphere."

Anko allowed herself a blush before she did a head count. "78? Ibiki, you let 26 teams pass?" she then sneered, "The First Exam must have been too soft."

"There were a lot of excellent students this time."

She scoffed a little. "Oh, well…I'm going to make more than half of these teams fail the exam." Her voice took on a happy tone. "I'm getting excited. I will explain the rules tomorrow. We will go somewhere else, so ask your jounin-sensei the rally point and time. That is all. Dismissed!"

Chairs slid back and people let out satisfied or relieved sighs. Team Seven stood up as one and regrouped, waiting for the other genin to finish squeezing themselves through the only doorway.

Kouseki grumbled as she saw how everyone was eager to get out of the dreaded classroom. She muttered and shook her head. ("You know, I can just plow my way through those brats and knock 'em over for you guys…")

Hinata's heart rate finally returned to something resembling normal, and she noticed Naruto about to leave.

"M-Matte…"

Naruto stopped walking and looked back at the shy Hyuuga heiress, tilting his head, much like a fox does when confused.

Hinata looked down at her feet and shuffled them a bit before letting out a small "A-Arigatou…"

He grinned again and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Heh…no problem Hinata-chan!"

"_Baka. Akina stopped her, not you."_

"_Urusei, teme! She doesn't know that!"_

Akina paused at the (now empty) doorway. She turned her head back towards her teammates.

"_Going for a walk."_

She left, leaving Kouseki to hang around with the rivals.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Akina strapped on her arm guards and headed out of the Puma clan's cave with Kyou following behind her, looking slightly more muscled than she had when they first started going to the Training Center.

She shunshined them into the main lobby, immediately being greeted by Kenshiki, the only person here who even attempted to become her friend since the first day. The other ninja in their class had, for the most part, ignored her and silently envied her.

The two nodded to each other before walking towards the classroom. All the ANBU in training had been informed of the upcoming activity that was to be expected from Orochimaru, and they had to be prepared as well.

Enkou was already in the room when they entered, and he greeted them with a grunt. All the ninja in their class were scattered around town right now, since being a trainee was their second life. Only a few other ANBU students were inside, since most of them were chuunin and were helping out with the Chuunin Exam.

Kyoukoumune hopped up onto the desk and started cat napping, as was her usual past time while waiting inside the classroom. The taller brown-haired man sat down in his seat and idly petted the small cub's ears, making her emit a low purr.

Akina sat cross-legged on her chair and meditated.

Their sensei looked up from reading some reports when the door smashed open (it had recently been reinforced after being slammed open so many times by various ninja), letting in an irritated Anko. Her amber eyes scanned the room and she walked up to Enkou. She gave him a scroll and scowled, looking back at the other ninja in the room (she could feel some of their curious gazes).

"What the hell are _you_ looking at?"

They hastily returned to their previous activities, not wanting to aggravate her any more than she already was. Enkou looked up from reading the scroll and nodded at the snake-user.

"Okay." He glanced at the few students that had actually made it to the meeting on time. "Attention!"

Immediately, everybody straightened in their chairs and looked at Enkou, silent. He smirked.

"In the next phase of the Chuunin Exam, the little genin are going to be using Training Area 44, the Forest of Death. We need volunteers to sweep the area and make sure that it's ready."

They kept their mouths shut, knowing that he wasn't really going to ask for volunteers. "Numbers 33, 35, 45, 48, 54, and 55; get your asses up and out of my classroom!"

The ANBU trainees that were called stood up. Enkou waved a bit as they made the seals to use Shunshin.

"Don't get eaten!"

* * *

Okay, this chapter was kind of boring to me. I tried to spice it up a little bit, but…eh. The first part of the Exam isn't that exciting either way (shrinks under Ibiki's glare). Neh neh! Gomen nasai!

We were all looking forward to the Second part anyways…that's where the real action starts!


	11. Snake Bite

_November 1st, 2008: This is the last full edit that I am doing, folks. After this one replaced the other, I am focusing all of my fanfiction attention on the progress and typing of the actual story. And...gawds, my feet are freakin' killing me! Walked around for only two hours trick or treating (no, I am NOT too old to do this), and now I have blisters on my left foot. _

_Not to mention the fact that I had five possible tests/quizzes that day alone, the tests being in AP US History and AP Calculus AB (the whole class failed this one, I'm sure of it). My Honors English III teacher was merciful and rescheduled her own test for Monday. Ahahah...eheheh....ha. (rubs tired eyes). I couldn't even sleep in either! I woke up at 8:30 this morning instead of oversleeping until like 10:30 or 11. (sniff)_

_Okay, rant over. (embarrassed smile) Let's pretend we didn't see this..._

"Talking"

Thinking

"Talking through mind seal/jutsu"

("Animals talking" / "Telepathy from animals through mind seal/jutsu")

"Demon Language" / 'Demon talking telepathically with their host'

'Miscellaneous things such as signs, ANBU sign language, letters..."

* * *

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

**::;Seeing the Truth;::**

**Chapter 11: Snake Bite**

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Sasuke and Naruto stared blankly at the Forest of Death as the other teams started to gather in the clearing. There was a certain ominous feeling coming from the forest, partly because of the forest itself, and partly because a certain brown-haired ANBU member (coughcoughKenshikihackingcough) used a genjutsu on the entrances to scare the little genin.

Anko was currently nowhere to be seen, but the genin didn't seem to mind not having the eccentric present to torment them some more.

Akina was lying against a large rock, keeping her head clear. During the assignment her class was given by Anko yesterday, she was told what the Second Exam was, so she was memorizing the layout of the forest and hoping to kami-sama that her team's entrance would be near the area that she or Kenshiki looked over.

Every so often a shriek of a crow or the hiss of a snake was heard, warning all the other animals of the genin that were coming and what to expect. Team Seven was, of course, not worrying about getting attacked by animals, so they were mildly amused to see even the beasts were getting prepared.

Kouseki's eyes were immediately attracted to a grass genin when he showed up with is team. The two demons both tensed slightly when they smelled the snake, and they knew immediately who he was.

("_Orochimaru-teme."_)

Now that they were in the Sannin's presence, they had to really make sure that they did not do anything suspicious or else he would suspect something.

The okami demon looked up at Hiromi, who had perched there 15 minutes ago. ("Hiromi. Tell them that the snake has arrived.")

She giggled in response and took off towards the forest.

Naruto tilted his head at Kouseki. "What was that all about?"

She just grinned in response, reciting the excuse they thought up of yesterday in private. ("The animals in the Forest of Death like to mess with the ninja that pass through every once in a while, and that pale Grass-nin just so happens to be one of their targets. Their excuse is that they don't like the feel of him. Hah.")

What was really going to happen was that Hiromi would fly to the Hokage's office and tell Sarutobi that Orochimaru had arrived by tapping his hand. She would stay there to lead anyone back to him later on.

Naruto just grinned at the thought of some animals being pranksters just like him, and Sasuke shook his head and sighed.

One by one, other teams started to gather around the entrance of Area 44, awaiting the next phase of the Chuunin Selection Exam. The bickering in the distance alerted Team Seven to Team Ten's arrival, and Akina instinctively muffled any sound she heard coming from Ino. The last thing she needed right now was a distraction. Naruto and Sasuke, however, were not so lucky.

"Sasuke-kun! Are you ready for the next exam?" Hearts appeared in the Yamanaka's eyes as she gazed lovingly at the Uchiha, who was now resisting the urge to twitch and retort bitingly. Naruto snickered in the background, obviously enjoying seeing his rival suffer.

Shikamaru and Chouji walked up to Naruto, Akina, and Kouseki, watching the scene unfold before their eyes. From the corner of his eyes, Sasuke saw Naruto snickering (and sensed his happiness through the link), sending him the infamous Uchiha glare.

Much to his dismay, it had no affect on the Uzumaki. Maybe he was using it too much on him…

In a whirl of leaves, Mitarashi Anko arrived, carrying a box of dango. The other examiners that were to help her arrived as well, situating themselves by the fence. She looked up at the gates and immediately noticed the genjutsu that Kenshiki put. She grinned before sitting on the booth's table and looking out at the genin that had gathered so far.

Her golden pools swept over them all, but they focused more on the scene that the Rookie Nine were making, now that Kiba's team had made it to the training area. Laughter shined in them.

"Crazy little brats…" she muttered, as Kiba and Naruto got into a shouting match. Shino and Hinata migrated over to the quieter group that had gathered around the blind ninja.

Akamaru hopped onto Kouseki's head, barking a hello. She grunted, sparing a glance upwards before she returned to listening to the reports that the animals in the forest were shouting out towards each other. The smaller canine tilted his head as he listened in as well.

("Are they pranking everyone _again?_")

She scoffed. ("Of course. Why else do you think it's called the Forest of Death? They don't like anyone invading territory, and since they don't have enough power to get them out forever they decided that making their lives a living hell while inside was good enough for them.")

Akamaru shivered when he heard a particularly evil cackle coming from one of the larger ravens.

Sasuke finally managed to get Ino off of him, earning groans of disappointment from the two blondes, and, interestingly enough, Anko, who had been having fun watching the young Uchiha struggling with his biggest fan girl.

("Areas 1-4 are secured!")

("The Stryker Brigade is ready to go!")

("Areas 5-8 are secured! We're waiting on 9 and 10.")

There was a pause in the chatter while Sasuke walked towards the rock that Akina was sitting against, surrounded by Shikamaru, Chouji, Kouseki, Akamaru, Shino, and Hinata. Kiba and Naruto were still going at it and Ino was mentally berating herself for not trying hard enough to win over Sasuke.

There was a loud roar from the forest that made several genin jump. A few pairs of terror-filled eyes tried to pry into the darkness of the forest to identify the owner of the voice, but it was all for naught.

Silence again. ("They're ready. Commence the operation.")

"_They're really taking it seriously aren't they? I wonder what they're cooking up in there…"_ Apparently the boys had stopped arguing long enough for Naruto to send this thought to his team mates. A mischievous grin was plastered on his face at the thought of the topic "pranks."

One of the chuunin whispered something in Anko's ear. She grumbled something along the lines of: "Finally, dammit. It was getting boring."

"ALRIGHT, SHUT THE HELL UP AND PAY ATTENTION! It's time for the second phase of the Chuunin Selection Exams!"

Almost immediately, any and all talking stopped.

"But before we start, I'm going to pass these out to everyone."

She reached into her trench coat and pulled out a stack of consent forms. Many genin stared blankly at the papers, wondering why they needed them. Kouseki nearly choked on her own laughter.

("Smart move.")

Anko cleared up any confusion by explaining herself. "These are consent forms. Those taking this exam must sign these."

"Why?!"

"From here on, people will die. Therefore, we need people's consent before we continue. Otherwise, I'd be held responsible." She grinned and laughed. "The paperwork would kill me!"

Naruto sweat dropped before remembering that Sarutobi _also_ hated paperwork (sometimes when Naruto would prank the Hokage in his office, he would hear the old man grumbling to himself). He glanced at the sign that Anko was standing next to.

'Warning! You may die.'

"…" "…" "…"

"Now, I will begin the explanation of the Second Exam. To make it simple, you will all go through an extreme survival match." She handed the pile of consent forms to Naruto, who just happened to be standing the closest to her. He took one and passed it on.

Shikamaru got a paper and sighed to himself. _An extreme survival match, eh? What a troublesome exam…_

"First, I'll explain the training area's geographical features," she unrolled a scroll which held a map of the forest and shows it to the genin. Sasuke's Sharingan flickered on and off, engraving the picture of the map into his mind for future reference.

"The 44th training area is a circular region surrounded by forty-four locked gate entrances. There is a ricer, a forest, and a tower in the middle. The tower is approximately 10 kilometers away from the gates. Inside this limited space, you will have to go through a certain survival program. The program consists of…"

She rolled up the map, putting it away. "…a competition where anything goes…over these scrolls."

Two small scrolls, one with black coloring and another with white, were shown. "The Scroll of Heaven and the Scroll of the Earth. You will fight over these scrolls. 26 teams in total passed the First Exam. Half of these teams will get the Scroll of Heaven. The other half will get the Scroll of the Earth. Each team will get one of these scrolls. Simply, you have to fight over these."

"And?" Sasuke needed more information. "What's needed to pass?"

"Bring the Scrolls of Heaven and Earth to the tower with your teammates."

"_Which means that at least thirteen teams that get their scroll jacked will fail."_ Sasuke and Akina heard Naruto snicker inside his mind.

"But you have to do it within the time limit of 120 hours. Or, for the more idiotic of you lot, exactly five days." She put away the scrolls.

"Five days?!"

"What about food?"

Mitarashi Anko shrugged. "Scrounge it up yourself. The forest is a treasure box of nature. There should be plenty of food."

"However…" started Kabuto, "there are a lot of man-eating beasts (Kouseki snickered at this point), poisonous bugs, and poisonous plants."

There were several sounds of complaint at this point, and other shinobi took the time to re-evaluate the rules.

"Also, it is not possible for thirteen teams, or thirty-nine people, to pass," murmured Neji. Lee glanced at him and agreed.

"As time passes, you will be required to move more. So, the time to rest your body will be come shorter." He grinned, letting his teeth sparkle. "This seems quite rough."

"_And we're surrounded by enemies. We won't be able to sleep in peace,"_ added Sasuke through their mind link.

"People will get hurt in the process of fighting over a scroll, and those who cannot bear this program's strictness will emerge, as well."

Shikamaru raised his hand. "Excuse me, can we quit in between?"

Naruto just grinned fondly at the familiar behavior that he was accustomed to during his Academy days. Kiba, Chouji, Shikamaru, and Naruto used to get in trouble together and had detentions at the same time. Akina and Kouseki (and whatever animals that were hanging around Akina at the moment) were dragged into it sometimes too, but they always disappeared mysteriously right before the boys got caught.

"As a rule, you are not allowed to give up during the exam. You will spend the five days in the forest."

"Just as I thought…how troublesome."

"While we're on this topic, here are the conditions that will get you failed and kicked out of the exam. First, a team that cannot bring both scrolls to the tower with the three teammates will fail. Second, they need to be at least somewhat _alive_, as in still breathing and recoverable. That means you can't lose any teammates.

Also, just a side note…you are not allowed to look inside the scrolls until you reach the tower."

Naruto tilted his head, now extremely interested in the exam. "What happens if you look?"

Her grin became wider and more sadistic—Naruto and Sasuke were reminded of Kouseki for some strange reason. "That's a surprise you'll see when you look at it."

"If you become a chuunin, you will be handling top secret documents. We need to determine your reliability. That's it for the explanation. We will exchange three consent forms for one scroll at that hut…(here she pointed) And after picking your gate entrance, everyone will begin at the same time."

She sighed. "Here's a last piece of advice. _Don't die_."

The large mass of genin split up into their respective cells. Sasuke leaned against the rock next to Akina and watched the examiners setting up a screen on the hut.

_I see...So we don't know what type of scroll has and which of the three is carrying it. It's just like Ibiki said. In this exam, gathering information is done by putting your life on the line. Everyone is an enemy._ He glanced around. _Everyone's determined. That means we will have to kill each other if needed._

Anko smirked at Sasuke. _It looks like he understands the reason for the consent form._

Naruto immediately signed the form with a pencil from his ninja pouch. He wordlessly passed it on to his teammates, who did the same.

"I'll pick the gate."

The boys didn't question her. After all, she was the "Nature Girl." She of all people would know which entrance was best for them.

_At least this way I can make sure that we get an entrance in the areas that me or Kenshiki went through…_ She was relieved to hear that they could actually pick their gates. Kenshiki was her trainee partner during their various training activities, so she _should_ be able to predict where he put his traps.

"Oi! Akina-chan!" Kiba waltzed over with his team. It looked like they had already gotten their scroll. "We're totally going to rule this phase, right?"

She nodded, remembering that Team Eight specialized in tracking and survival. "Good hunting, minna."

Kiba grinned. "Thanks, but we don't need it."

Shino simply nodded, and Hinata squeaked out a "G-Good luck…" before they all went to their gate, which, much to Akina's relief was far away from where she was planning to go. At least she would be sure that they would be safe from Orochimaru.

Team Seven walked up to the hut and received a Heaven scroll (which Sasuke pocketed, since Naruto's pouch was already filled with…other things).

On the way to the gate that Akina picked, they passed by Team Ten. Akina pulled Shikamaru aside for a bit.

"Truce?"

Shikamaru stared dully at Akina (not that she could see it, mind you) for a while, but she knew that he was thinking.

"Whatever…sure. Man, it'll be troublesome trying to get Ino to agree…"

She nodded in thanks and continued toward their gate after telling Naruto and Sasuke what she did.

"What about Team Eight?"

"Their gate is on the other side of the forest."

"Besides, Kiba wouldn't attack Akina-chan!"

_Also…Hinata would refuse to fight you, Naruto…not that you know that._ During the last year at the Ninja Academy, Akina spent more time getting to know Hinata, and she was told about her crush (after much blushing).

Anko looked up at the sun, then at her watch. She raised a hand, signaling the examiner nearest to her to get ready. The genin assigned to his gate also tensed, adrenaline running through their veins.

The hand dropped, and the gate opened. Like a chain reaction, all the examiners who heard it open did the same, until all the genin were released into the Forest of Death, and into the clutches of its beasts.

Team Seven jogged into the dark forest, going at a moderate pace while keeping an eye out for any threats.

A faraway scream made them screech to stop, and Akina tilted her head to find out what happened. "_It's Kiba's team…they got their scroll."_

"Dammit, already?! It's only been, what, five freakin' minutes!"

She shrugged and led the way again.

Akina inwardly sighed as she realized that she was pretty much rushing into the Forest unprepared. Orochimaru was known for having the legendary Kusanagi, a poisonous blade that could pierce even the thickest of demon hides, including _dragon_ scales. It wouldn't have bothered her if it wasn't for the fact that Akina was _half dragon_. She would have contented herself to bringing a couple wakizashi to even out the attack ranges, but that would have brought up too much suspicion, since she didn't normally use blades in her genin life.

"I need to go pee."

Almost immediately Kouseki's brow twitched and she pointed towards the bushes with one of her large paws. He wordlessly obeyed after sticking his tongue out at the wolf. The youkai blew him a raspberry. Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his childish teammates.

"You _idiot_. We shouldn't need to tell you to go relieve yourself before anything big."

Akina paid no heed to this and took the extra opportunity to scan the forest again. She noted an Ame-nin attempting to ambush Naruto while he was…_relieving_ himself. He spluttered slightly at the timing of the attack, before hastily pulling up his pants and pulling out a kunai to defend himself.

Her attention went elsewhere when she sensed that he was going to be okay. Sasuke seemed to notice the action going on nearby as well, since his hand was resting idly near his shuriken pouch.

A chirp from above told her that her first report since being in the forest was about to be given.

("Akina-sama! The pale one is coming here at very fast speeds! Stay alert, I think he's after your team!") With that, the bird left to go spread the word.

She shifted uncomfortably when she sensed Orochimaru coming towards them in the disguise of a Grass-nin. Hiroki, Hiromi's brother, was standing by to speed off towards the nearest ANBU when Orochimaru showed signs of attacking. She just had to hold him off and keep everyone relatively okay until they got here. She could at least do that, since Orochimaru wasn't foolish enough to attract unwanted attention by using his full power.

_But this is Orochimaru, the Snake Sannin. Overestimating myself and underestimating him will get Naruto, me, and Kouseki killed, and Sasuke will be marked._ She was nervous, for the first time in a very long time.

Sasuke seemed to notice the condition of Akina's nerves, and frowned inwardly. "_Something wrong?"_

Naruto trotted back into the clearing the other three were waiting in, dragging a tied up Ame-nin behind him. He was pouting.

"_It's a Heaven scroll. And what's wrong with who?"_

Akina just shook her head and got in control of her emotions again. "_Don't underestimate the pale Grass-nin."_

They nodded and let Akina lead the way again. She was satisfied to notice that they were now entering the area where she had spent the most time yesterday when she was sent on the errand from Anko. She suddenly veered off towards the right, confusing her teammates until they bothered to ask her why.

"Trap."

What Enkou meant by "getting the training area ready" was to set traps and make the forest more intimidating and dangerous for the genin. And since Akina had picked the area where her own traps were located, she could use them to her advantage in the upcoming battle.

_Speaking of which..._

A sudden large gust of wind threatened to sweep them off their feet. Akina immediately angled herself to land near Sasuke when she noticed that the boys had lost their grips. Kouseki did the same with Naruto, using her larger body mass to lessen the distance the two would land away from their teammates.

Sasuke groaned and rubbed the spot on his head where he hit a rock and took in his surroundings. _What was that?_

"_Holy crap, that hurt…"_ Naruto seemed to have survived. He wasn't too far away either.

The bushes parted near Sasuke, revealing Akina, sporting a wind-blown look. He deemed her the true Akina since he could feel the mind seals that connected them all on her.

He nodded towards her and they started to walk to where Naruto was when a Naruto look-alike appeared, running towards them.

"Ouch...Hey, everyone, are you okay?"

"Don't take another step. How do we know that it's really you?" Sasuke took out a kunai and stood, ready to attack him. 'Naruto' just scowled at them.

"What are you talking about Sasuke? Of course it's me!"

His answer was a kunai to the face, which he dodged by moving back and ducking. He skidded on his butt for a bit before spluttering a response.

"What are you doing?!"

Sasuke scowled, now sure that this was the shinobi that Akina had warned them about.

"Naruto would never call me 'Sasuke'; it's always 'teme' or 'Sasuke-teme'. And the movements he showed me when he dodged are different from Naruto. Show your real self, impostor."

"_Naruto, are you two okay?"_

"_I think so...my head hurts and—HOLY SHIT THAT'S A HUGE SNAKE!"_

The impostor smirked and licked his lips with an abnormally long tongue. "I see."

In a poof of smoke the fraud was revealed to be the pale Grass-nin. "I see that you never let your guard down. Looks like I can have more fun that I expected."

He licked his lips again, and Sasuke was reminded of a snake for some strange reason. He took out his team's scroll. "You want our Scroll of Earth right? You three have the Scroll of the Heaven."

Sasuke watched with a sort of sick fascination as he proceeded to swallow the scroll with the help with his snake tongue.

"Now let's begin…The fight over our scrolls…By putting our lives on the line."

The Grass-nin glared at them, and Akina felt a burst of killer intent coming from their opponent. Sasuke gasped and slumped slightly, panting. She instantly knew what had just happened. Why shouldn't she know the trademark jutsu of ANBU?

Kanashibari no jutsu.

She tensed slightly, putting one of her hands on Sasuke's shoulder and gripped it tightly while taking out a kunai.

"Naruto. Leave the snake to Kouseki and come help."

"Got it! Kouseki better beat the crap outta this thing. It almost ate me..."

The pout that was heard in his voice lessened Sasuke's trauma slightly along with the slight pain of Akina's grip, and he was able to think better.

"Who is he...?"

"Ahh...I see that the young lady wasn't affected by my little show..."

Akina knew that he was underestimating her. _Good. I'll need all the help I can get._ The reason why she wasn't affected was because when you use this technique, you usually need eye contact to transmit the bulk of your killer intent. Since Akina was blind, she just brushed off whatever was leftover since he needed to use eye contact with Sasuke (who had been glaring at him).

She sifted through her memories and remembered something about the mind seals. She sent a command to the hidden seal on her forehead, and the seal on Sasuke's head (under his hitai-ate) burned into his head, giving him enough of a distraction to release himself from the jutsu.

In a blur of leaves, Akina and Sasuke escaped into the trees.

"He's not normal prey..."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"Oi, Kouseki-chan! Akina-chan says that you should handle over-stuffed worm."

The large wolf nodded and snarled at the summon into temporary submission, giving Naruto the perfect opportunity to leave.

When he was gone, Kouseki grinned at the unfortunate snake that was about to meet her wrath. ("You picked a hell of a bad day to mess with me, hebi.")

The snake seemed to laugh at the much smaller beast. ("And why isssss that?")

("No one messes with my pack, especially in these times.") She howled a battle cry and disappeared into the shadows.

The snake tasted the air for the wolf, but couldn't find her. A blur of black jumped out of the shadows and started slashing at his hide in many places, earning hisses of pain. Blood gushed out, spreading the scent towards the area where Akina and Sasuke were.

_Idiot snake. Can't even sense that I'm an oni, too. A _stronger_ oni._

She latched onto the back of his neck, sinking in her canines until she heard the crunch of the spine. The snake dropped onto the ground, exploding in a burst of white smoke to return to his home in Makai.

Kouseki scoffed at the lack of excitement the battle had before bounding towards the fight where she was needed.

Hang on, itoko-chan!

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Akina and Sasuke dodged the snake's fangs, pulling out shuriken. As one, they let them loose, embedding them inside its head and killing it.

The scales on its neck cracked, and from it emerged the Kusa-nin. Akina and Sasuke sensed that Naruto had arrived and was hiding.

"_You guys, that other snake was a summon!"_

Akina inwardly sighed. Now she can reveal who he was. "_That means that this shinobi is Orochimaru, the legendary Snake Sannin—one of the Sandaime's students. He's the only male that can summon snakes and he's a missing-nin."_

There were a couple gasps. "_Don't get bitten or poisoned."_

"Prey need to strain their minds all the time, and run around…in the presence of a predator."

His body stretched to the length of a real snake and he twisted his way around the trunk, towards Sasuke. Akina shook her head and threw some shuriken in his path before jumping to help her teammate.

Sasuke jumped back and pulled out a kunai, activating his Sharingan. Akina landed next to him.

"Ah…the Sharingan…let's test the full potential of that wonderful bloodline…" he licked his lips and blurred towards Sasuke and Akina. Both genin jumped back, but only Sasuke rushed in to fight afterwards.

He threw shuriken as he ran and threw a kick when he got close enough. Orochimaru dodged the shuriken and blocked the kick, forcing Sasuke to flip over him to avoid being countered. He skidded to a stop a good distance away.

Both adversaries raced towards each other, and Akina finally joined in by running behind Sasuke, circling chakra around her body.

Sasuke forced Orochimaru in disguise to block his attacks with both arms, giving Akina the opportunity to attack. She rushed forward with a palm thrust, managing to hit him on his left arm before he backed away.

The genin stood together, ready to attack again while their opponent took the time to assess his injury. _That attack…was just like the Jyuuken…interesting._ Interesting or not, his arm from the elbow down was beginning to go numb.

Akina blurred towards their target, taking control over of the winds. When she reached Orochimaru she threw a punch, but when he brought up his arm to bat it away, her arm went through him. His eyes widened slightly. _Bunshin?_

The real Akina appeared behind him, sending a series of palm thrusts. Some just barely grazed his body, giving him an uncomfortable feeling as he weaved in and out of the attacks. When they were at a stand still (Orochimaru had caught her arms, despite one of his own being half-numb) she breathed in and blew, using her air manipulation to turn it into a small typhoon. Orochimaru let go and was blown back towards, slamming into another tree while Akina caught her breath.

He got up from the hole his body had made in the tree, shaking his head to clear the fuzziness. Just as he was about to rush in towards the girl, an orange blur punched him back again. Naruto appeared in front of Orochimaru and gave another punch before retreating back towards Akina.

The older shinobi sent a Fuuton jutsu towards the two smaller genin, who separated to dodge. Naruto scowled when he saw that the Grass-nin was focusing on Akina. While Akina was bust dodging the swipes from his kunai, Naruto took out his own and threw it, making a cross-seal.

"_Kage Kunai Bunshin no jutsu!"_

One turned into one hundred as metal rained down on the fighting pair.

They didn't bother Akina, who used her 'bloodline' to change the course of all the weapons heading towards her. She veered them towards Orochimaru, who now had to dodge her chakra powered palm thrusts as well.

When it was over, Naruto jumped from his perch and threw an axe-kick down at Orochimaru. Akina jumped back and threw a few shuriken to get Orochimaru into a position to get hit. He dodged towards the left, and into Naruto's range.

The Kusa-nin dodged at the last moment, only to be grabbed on the waist by Sasuke, shooting them both down towards the ground. He wrapped his legs around the shinobi and trapped his arms, pile-driving his head into a fast-approaching tree branch. Akina increased their speed with her wind, giving more damage.

"Hayabusa Otoshi (Peregrine Falcon Drop)."

"Nice one, teme."

Akina shook her head from her place next to Naruto. "We're not done yet."

The Kusa-nin's body quivered a bit, having been driven partially through the branch. Sasuke let go and jumped back several yards, carefully watching the body, but staying alert for any other attacks. The body shivered some more before gaping and turning into a pile of mud.

"A replacement."

Akina and Naruto intercepted the many volleys of kunai that were heading towards Sasuke, moving downwards while throwing their weapons. The long-haired ninja shook his head at them and summoned a large snake, twice as big as the others, to stall them. Naruto yelled out in frustration as he was forced to dodge the fanged beast.

("It's time to play, gakisssssss!")

Sasuke grunted when he was suddenly punched in the face, still far below his teammates, and received several more hits before he was thrown back, skidding to a stop near the trunk.

The effeminate shinobi walked towards Sasuke, frowning. "That was too easy. You're not living up to the name of Uchiha. Oh well, I'm going to slowly beat you, and then kill you…just like a bug."

From up above, the snake was keeping the genin busy, but Naruto saw what was going to happen to his rival. _KUSO! I need to go help him!_

Rage was directed at the summoning, and Kyuubi's chakra started circulating through his system. Akina grimaced at the familiar feeling and fought to control her demonic urges and the blood lust. Kouseki appeared behind Akina, laying one of her paws on her feet to help her fight the urge to cause a massacre. _Such angry chakra._

Naruto snarled, slashing at the snake's face with his newly formed claws. Blood gushed out of the new wounds, forcing the snake to retreat back to Makai. The jinchuuriki rushed down towards his wounded teammate just as the mini explosive tags that Sasuke set on Orochimaru's robes exploded, giving the Uchiha a chance to back off for a bit.

When Orochimaru flew back, Naruto appeared above him in a blur of speed, glaring with his red, narrowed eyes and growling. He rained down punch after punch that slightly stunned Orochimaru as he dodged the blurred attacks.

So he is the Kyuubi brat...

He dodged a spinning kick and grabbed the outstretched leg with his long tongue, flinging Naruto towards a tree. He flew through the air, but righted himself, pushing off the tree and flying back at Orochimaru. The Sannin in disguise sent another gust of wind at Naruto, making him hover in midair for a bit.

Narrowing his crimson eyes, Naruto roared, sending a shock-wave that canceled out the other technique. He landed and rebounded off the tree branch towards Orochimaru, who crossed his arms to block the chakra-enhanced punch. He skidded back from the force of the punch.

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly. _Is that Naruto?_

Naruto slashed upwards with his other hand, making several cuts on Orochimaru's arm appear before the Sannin spun and kicked Naruto away. While the jinchuuriki flew, the anger finally started to fade away, but the Kyuubi no Kitsune's chakra lingered.

A long tongue caught him, and Orochimaru put his hand behind his back. Naruto struggled in his grip, growling all the while.

"OI! LET GO YOU BASTARD!"

He brought Naruto closer with his tongue, and slammed his open hand, which had 5 element kanji surrounded by purple fire, into the boy's exposed stomach, where the seal just so happened to be showing.

_Gogyou Fuuin (Five Elements Seal)!_

The demonic chakra receded, and the demonic features that came with it went away as well. Red faded into a blank blue, and Naruto's body slumped, unconscious.

The Sannin threw his body away, and Akina, who had just managed to overcome her demonic instincts now that the fox's chakra was gone, disappeared, reappearing underneath Naruto's motionless body to catch it. She stuck to the side of the tree and ran back up laying Naruto down next to Kouseki, who whined slightly and licked the boy's cheek.

Meanwhile, Sasuke had his shuriken ready. He jumped high and backwards, releasing several volleys of triple-bladed shuriken tied to wires towards the snake-summoner. He held the wires and used his Sharingan to control the shuriken as it wrapped around multiple trees and bound the Kusa-nin in a strong hold. Orochimaru tried to move his hands, but found that he couldn't now that Akina had reinforced the hold with her air manipulation.

Satisfied, Sasuke stabbed the kunai anchors into the branch he was standing on and bit down on the wire that led to the other shinobi's face while forming the hand seals for his newest fire jutsu.

Katon: Ryuuka no jutsu (Fire Release: Dragon Fire)!

Fire exploded from Sasuke's body and surrounded him in the form of an inferno. He blew, and the fire raced down the wire and engulfed their enemy, as well as the tree he was trapped in. He let the jutsu continue for a few seconds before cutting off the chakra supplying it.

Akina noticed which tree Orochimaru was stuck in and threw a chakra-enhanced shuriken at Orochimaru. It went through the flames and landed with a _thunk_ on the trunk next to his screaming face.

Sasuke, panting slightly from the chakra use, sent a questioning look towards her. "_Why did—"_

_**BOOOOOOM!!!**_

That explosion set off the other exploding seals that were set around that area, making a chain reaction and completely obliterating the tree the Sannin was trapped against as well as the surrounding area.

Akina gritted her teeth, intercepting another Fuuton technique with her wind manipulation from her place next to Kouseki and Naruto. Out from the dying flames stepped the 'Kusa-nin', but his face looked melted. He made the monkey seal and glared at Sasuke, freezing him yet again with a burst of killer intent.

"I'm impressed that you can use your Sharingan so well at your age. You live up to the name of Uchiha." He put his hand over his headband, and when he took it off it had turned into the symbol of the Sound.

"I've decided that I want you after all."

("Holy shit that sounded so wrong,") mumbled Kouseki. Akina shushed her and got ready to spring into action.

"You two are definitely brothers. Your eyes say that you carry more potential than Itachi."

This made Sasuke surprised (and angry) enough to overcome the paralysis slightly to gape at him at the mention of his aniki.

"Who are you?!"

He took out his Earth scroll and held it in front of him. Akina quickly took out a dummy scroll and used Kawarimi to switch the two, putting the Earth scroll in her ninja pouch. The Oto-nin smiled evilly, not noticing the switch in his twisted glee.

"My name is Orochimaru. If you wish to see me again, get through this Exam if your life depended on it." The scroll in his hand slowly started to burn as green fire ate at it. "In other words, you'll have to defeat my subordinates, the three Sound ninja."

He made a hand seal, which stretched his neck. His head moved towards Sasuke at high speeds, aiming at his neck. Sasuke gasped as he remembered Akina's warning from the beginning of the battle, which seemed oh so long ago when it had really only been about 15 or 20 minutes.

—"_Don't get bitten or poisoned."—_

Just as he was about opened his mouth to bite down, Akina appeared in between the two males, taking the attack instead of Sasuke. Orochimaru's fangs went into the point where her neck and shoulder met. Her body shuddered from the pain.

Orochimaru inwardly cursed, now that he had gotten the wrong target. Well at least he got someone strong, if their fight from earlier was any clue. There was only one problem.

Why did she taste like wood?

Akina's body turned into a large log, covered in so many explosive notes that there was not a patch of brown in sight. His eyes widened.

"Wha—!"

_**KAAAAAAAAAA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!**_

The resulting explosion engulfed the entire section of the forest, creating such a large dome of fire that it could be seen from the village. It started spinning, transforming into a flaming tornado that reached up into the skies. The tornado span for another ten seconds before dissipating.

Kouseki had appeared behind Sasuke with Naruto on her back, she grabbed the other boy before fleeing the scene, the fire just behind them. Sasuke finally got his senses back and ran next to Kouseki. Akina appeared on the other side of Kouseki, panting hard and having to deal with a large headache.

Through the pain, she sighed inwardly.

_That should get the ANBU to move faster. This will only stall Orochimaru. I doubt that this will kill him..._

They stopped for a bit, satisfied at the distance they put between Orochimaru and them. ("We need to get some shelter.")

Sasuke nodded just as a large black panther jumped down in front of them.

("Kouseki-sama, Akina-sama, is everything alright?") The panther, who was slightly smaller than the wolf, was staring wide-eyed at the large section of forest that had been reduced to charred dirt.

("The snake Sannin did it…Oi, is there anywhere we can spend the night? We've had a hell of a long day…")

The big cat nodded and started leading the way. Kouseki, Akina, and Sasuke followed. To Akina's insistence, Sasuke was riding behind Akina on Kouseki, seeing as she was the size of a large horse. Naruto was held in Akina's arms as they moved at a quick pace.

("Hai. There is shelter about a mile ahead, surrounded by many traps. There's a river another mile away from there, also.")

Kouseki nodded, inwardly suspecting that Akina had something to do with that for some odd reason. _She __did__ say that she was the one that put all the traps in this area…_ As they jumped, a couple other panthers joined their party, serving as an escort through their forest.

Sasuke's eyelids started to droops slightly form exhaustion, but when he heard faint hissing from far, far behind him, they snapped open, determined to get his team to safety. He glanced back, now a little paranoid.

A small snake riding a hawk came into view behind them, and in the hawk's talons was an Earth scroll. The snake nodded towards the strange group.

("Akina-ssssssama. The Sssssstryker Brigade hassss ssssuccccceeded.") The two flew next to the running Kouseki, dropping the scroll into Akina's outstretched hand. They disappeared as Akina handed the scroll to Sasuke, who accepted it, putting it in his ninja pouch.

They reached a large hollowed out tree stump after passing through layer upon layer of traps that forced Akina to get off of Kouseki to lead the way (since she was the one that set them, but Sasuke didn't know that).

The group landed in the small clearing, and the panthers immediately separated and sat themselves at strategic places so that they can guard them. Akina set down Naruto's body inside the stump before rubbing her temples due to the stress of using her manipulation so much, especially after turning the dome of fire into a tornado.

Sasuke unhooked Naruto's ninja pouch and rest the orange-clad boy's head on it before sitting down himself. Akina nodded towards him.

"I'll go get water; the beasts will get food."

With that, she walked out of the clearing, carefully avoiding her own traps. Sasuke realized just how much mental stress that using her 'bloodline' gave her, since she actually talked instead of using their mind link.

He sighed before lying down on his own ninja pouch, turning on his side.

Kouseki glanced at him from her resting place near the entrance to their little hideout. ("You okay there Sasuke?") she whispered, so that the panthers wouldn't hear. He grunted slightly, before allowing the darkness to takeover.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Akina dived through a complex web of wires, doing multiple flips and spins to avoid setting anything off. She weaved in between another set of traps before landing in front of a small steam that led to the main river of the Forest of Death.

She took out their water canteens and leaned down, filling them up. Thinking back on the battle with the snake Sannin, she nodded in slightly satisfactory. She didn't have to show her true strength (since Orochimaru didn't expect it), and no one was marked by his Curse Seal.

_The only problem is the seal on Naruto..._

A shadow appeared behind Akina as she finished getting the water. She straightened, about-faced, and snapped her hand up in a salute.

The shadow revealed itself to be the ANBU Commander himself. He nodded and moved his fingers in their secret sign language.

_'At ease. Report.'_

_'Hai. Objective accomplished. Sasuke was protected and no seals were given. The enemy fought at ¼ his power. Escape was possible after giving a distraction.'_

Had he not been in uniform, the ANBU would have raised an incredulous eyebrow at the "distraction" that she was referring to. The other ANBU had said that it had some of the villagers in a panic for several minutes. Everyone in the forest must have been gaping at it. It had been hard _not_ to see it.

_'Naruto was given the Five Elements Seal. I don't have the ability to disable it.'_

Her report ended, and she put her hands to her sides. Her Commander thought for a moment before nodding.

_'Hokage-sama can unseal it in the Tower upon your cell's arrival. Good job. Continue the mission.'_

Akina saluted again. _'Hai!'_

He disappeared back into the shadows, leaving Akina all alone. She tilted her head slightly. _He must have come here himself to make sure that Orochimaru was gone. I couldn't tell if they caught him or not, though…probably not._

She sighed silently and rubbed at her head before walking back. A tiger walked towards her before she went too far and dropped a deer carcass at her feet. Akina bowed towards him.

"Arigatou Tora-san."

He nodded and left.

Akina checked her surroundings and deemed it uninhabited before pointing at the meat. A spark of chakra jumped off of her finger, turning into a small dragon that circled around its prey, cooking the meat. The ANBU trainee used her air manipulation to keep smoke from appearing and the smell from spreading. A few minutes later, it was done. The blood was cleaned up.

She used her air manipulation for the last time that night by levitating the meat and bringing it back to her team's hideout.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Mitarashi Anko growled in frustration now that they were sure that Orochimaru had gotten away. She punched the tree trunk before crossing her arms and glaring at nothing in particular. The ANBU operatives that were assigned to aid her backed off slightly at the murderous aura that was surrounding the snake-user.

_Goddammit…he got away…and I didn't even get to see him face to face so that I can at the very least yell at him or somethin'…_

Her hazel eyes looked at the acres upon acres of ashes in front of her before she snorted. _Well at least I can basically guarantee that he was at least a little bit hurt during his little visit here…_ The remains of an explosive seal blew by in front of her face, making her smirk maliciously. _I gotta thank that midget that set the traps in this area…she did pretty damn good for a chibi-chan._

"Mitarashi-san. We need to get to the tower."

Anko waved off the urgency in the ANBU's voice. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Let's get going."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Sasuke and Akina ate in silence, when Akina sneezed a little. _Someone must be talking about me behind my back…_

The sudden noise seemed to snap Sasuke out of his quiet brooding. He looked over at the quiet girl.

"_Why?"_

Akina seemed to understand what his question was. He was asking why Orochimaru had been after them. It wasn't recommended to tell him about Orochimaru, but Akina knew from experience that Sasuke didn't like things "done for his own good," especially if he didn't know why.

"_Orochimaru's dream is to be immortal and learn all the jutsu in the world. He intended to steal your Sharingan and use it to accomplish it."_

There was silence while Sasuke thought over what he was just told. He clenched his fist until it turned white. _He was just toying with us…_ As he thought back he remembered what Orochimaru had said about Itachi and him. _How does he know the bastard? How dare he mention that name in front of my face…_

Akina knew enough to leave him alone at times like these, so she finished eating and walked towards one of the big cats.

"Watch out for the Sound Genin. They have the symbol of a musical note on their hitai-ate."

The panther nodded before passing the message to the others.

Akina walked back to their shelter, passing by Sasuke and briefly putting a hand on his shoulder. "_We have a long day tomorrow. We have to get to the tower since we have both scrolls, so please get some sleep."_

She left him alone and went into the tree stump to sleep. _Hopefully, by tomorrow morning this headache will be gone and I can think without feeling like Gamabunta-sama stomped on my head._

Sasuke didn't reply and continued to brood, but the sense that she made in that request got to him. _If I ever want to kill him, then first I need to survive this Exam…_

He looked around him to make sure they were safe before turning in for the night as well. He lay down on the other side of Akina, closer towards the entrance (the order is: entrance, Sasuke, Akina, Naruto), and climbed into his black sleeping bag, using his ninja pouch as a pillow.

Thoughts of Orochimaru, his lost clan, and his once-loved older brother prevailed as his mind drifted into the darkness.

Akina was awake, sensing Sasuke finally falling asleep.

_Sasuke...I wonder when you can finally leave the past behind and move on...

* * *

  
_

(does a dance and jumps up and down) Buahahaha! I finally finished this chapter. I bet you guys were about to give up on me updating, huh? Well I had my theories on why I had writer's block, but I figured that it was because I have trouble with the 'calm before the storm' moments. Most of my time was spent on the action scene though…

Please REVIEW on that! I need to improve more on my fighting scenes, since they take so much damn time to type up. ;;.

MERRY LATE CHRISTMAS!


	12. Confrontations in the Tower

Okay, I hope you guys liked that last chapter, especially since I worked so hard on it, hehe. Since the next few chapters are almost completely action, the story will be updated slower than usual. Sorry!

Also, I hope that some of you noticed how Kouseki addressed Akina when she was heading over to the main battle. I will not bother translating it for you since there are several online Japanese-English translators that you can use for that. Google it online or something.

"Talking"

_Thinking_

"_Telepathy through mind seal"_

("Animals talking" / _"__Telepathy with animals"_)

"**Demonic language"/ **_**Demon thinking **_**/ 'Demon talking telepathically to their jinchuuriki'**

_'Miscellaneous things such as signs, ANBU sign language, letters...'_

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto-sempai owns Naruto.

* * *

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

**::;Seeing the Truth;::**

**Chapter 12: Confrontations in the Tower**

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"_We have two Heaven scrolls and one Earth scroll,"_ announced Sasuke once he had checked all of their supplies. Akina merely nodded while rolling up her sleeping bag and putting it away.

"_Naruto has to wake up for us to enter the tower…"_

"_Hn."_

By this time Kouseki had gotten very annoyed at the lack of verbal conversation. She cast a withering look at the quiet pair before trotting over to Naruto and laying down near his head. Kouseki poked his head a bit before sighing.

The panther that was nearest to their hideout motioned for Akina to come over, looking serious about something.

("Akina-sama,") she said as the girl neared, ("A few hours ago some ningen tried to get to your position, but were deterred by the traps. They will most likely try again today.")

Akina nodded at the report, already knowing it but appreciating it all the same. During the night she kept on drifting in and out of sleep, as her demonic side started to become more active. Kouseki said that this would happen soon, now that the seal had been taken off when she met with her father's family.

Afterwards, the amount of element manipulation she could do before the mental strain was too much had increased.

"Were they the Oto-nin?" This caught Sasuke's attention as memories of the battle the day before flashed across his mind's eye.

The cat nodded grimly, absently cleaning her whiskers. Sasuke had already finished packing his stuff long ago, and was now walking the perimeter, looking at the complicated traps that surrounded the area.

Kouseki looked up, seeing that Sasuke was busy doing something else, before looking at the seal on Naruto's stomach. Her golden pools narrowed at the additional kanji. _I might not be much of a Sealer, but that is definitely not good for his chakra, not to mention the kitsune's._ The thought of the nine-tailed bijuu sealed inside the small boy made her remember something she wanted to try out for a long time. She looked up to double-check that Sasuke was distracted, and then positioned her muzzle next to Naruto's ear.

"**Wake up. We need you awake…both of you,"** she whispered.

Akina sat down next to the entrance, recognizing the demonic tongue and trying to clear the fogginess in her mind. The last time she heard that language…was before she crossed the Gate and gave up her memories. Her body and mind remembered her skills from before the transfer, but she didn't have access to those memories. Most likely if anyone tried to pry those memories out of her mind, they would find it impossible. No one could challenge the will of the Gods.

Naruto's body shifted slightly before settling down again. Kouseki sighed at the failed attempt, shaking her head. _I guess it didn't work…_

("What are you trying to do, kill me?!") The voice was shrill, indicating that it was probably from a rodent.

This was followed by a muffled curse and the bushes rustling. Sasuke jumped back towards Akina, standing next to her with a kunai drawn.

("Akina-sama! The Sound genin tried to stick an explosive tag on my back! Kick his tail for me!") squealed out the squirrel as it dashed through the clearing and away to safety. Kouseki sweat dropped.

In the distance, they heard one of the traps go off, making one of the panthers cringe once they recognized which one it was. This particular one unleashed a series of small Housenka jutsu and, for some reason, stink bombs at strategic places where the invading ninja was likely to dodge.

"_I will muffle their sound attacks for us."_

"_Hn."_

Sasuke quickly blocked a kunai that had been thrown at him when the Sound team jumped into the clearing, panting slightly from the effort they had to make to dodge all the fireballs and stink bombs (though, from the smell, they didn't fully escape the clouds of stinky gas).

The one in the middle, with bandages covering his head, spoke for his team. "We're here to kill Uchiha Sasuke."

("Well that was idiotic. Right away we know what their goal is. Baka,") mumbled Kouseki from inside the tree trunk. Both kids inwardly agreed but didn't say anything. They could use any information they can get.

Behind them, Naruto had started to wake up, but he stayed still, unconsciously sensing enemies in the area.

"…_nuh?"_

The two teams stood stock still, wearily eying each other now that it was assured that they could not avoid a battle. It stayed like this for a few more seconds, before Sasuke just smirked at them. Almost immediately, Zaku scowled at him.

"What the hell are you smirking at?!"

If anything, the smirk widened. "You."

Zaku's eyes narrowed, and he raised his arm and aimed his palm at them. "I'll show you…" The two felt chakra circulating inside his arm, already putting their plan into action.

"Zankuuha (Decapitating Air Wave)!"

A large burst of wind hit the spot where the two where standing, sending dust everywhere. Zaku smirked as the dust cleared, showing that Sasuke and Akina were nowhere to be seen.

"Look at that…I got them both in one shot…"

Dosu frowned at his teammate. "Don't be so arrogant…"

A pair of hands burst from the ground underneath Kin, and they grabbed her ankles, dragging her into the ground. The same was going to happen to the two boys, but they dodged just in time. Kin struggled to get out of the earth, but it was useless.

Two Akina's and Sasuke dug their way out of the ground. One of the Akina's (one of them was apparently a Kage Bunshin), tilted her head slightly at the other girl. _"I reinforced the ground around her with chakra. She won't be getting out anytime soon."_

She manipulated the earth slightly in this pause in battle, pushing a pressure point on the girl's neck and knocking her out of the battle.

Zaku sneered at her. "Pathetic."

One of the panthers, who had taken refuge in the trees high above, shook his head at him. ("It seems that those in the Sound do not care about their own comrades. Disgraceful.")

His sister, who was sitting beside him, chuckled at the head sticking out of the ground. ("Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu (Earth Release: Inner Decapitation). You know, I checked in on them last month and found their entire training area covered in holes. They really had fun with that technique there.")

Her brother just shook his head as he sensed Naruto using the technique as well, tunneling underground to use a sneak attack on them later.

Dosu charged at Sasuke, leaving Zaku to attack Akina.

Sasuke ducked under Dosu's punch, not affected at all by the strange device on his arm. Dosu gasped, surprised by this. _Why doesn't it affect him?!_

While he was distracted, Sasuke delivered a strong punch to his stomach, knocking the air out of him, before grabbing his arm and slamming him into the ground again. Dosu grunted, rolling in the dirt and skidding to stop a few seconds later.

He got up, spitting some blood out of his mouth and cradling his injury slightly from the force he was punched with. _Chakra-enforced punch…_ He watched as Akina dodged some more wind blasts, flipping in the air as if she belonged in it.

Kouseki had appeared on the opposite side of the panther siblings, nearer to the side that the other Konoha genin were approaching from. _As a half-dragon, she should feel comfortable in the air. It should be in her instincts to wish to fly. That's why she flips so much while fighting._

Zaku gritted his teeth. _I have to get her to stay still…the damn bitch won't stop moving!_ With that thought in mind, he ran towards the place where she would land, not giving her time to jump again. He punched towards her stomach, but in the last moment she bent her body like a cat and dodged, flipping over him and grabbing his shoulders in the process. She flipped his body, slamming him into the ground and creating a small crater. She landed silently, going into her usual starting stance.

At this point, another pair of arms burst from the arm, dragging Zaku underneath. Once his head was the only thing visible, Naruto climbed out of the earth, frowning and panting for some reason. _What the hell is wrong with my chakra?_

Akina disappeared and reappeared behind his head, tapping the back of his neck and sending a burst of chakra, knocking him out just like his teammate. Now, only Dosu was left, since both he and Sasuke had stopped to watch their battle.

By now, Team Ten had arrived, and was hiding in the bushes, watching as the other Oto-nin was knocked out. Ino and Chouji were staring wide-eyed at the ease at which they defeated two out of three of their opponents, but Shikamaru was thinking back on the small talk he had with the blind girl the day before.

_A truce…_ His half-lidded gaze went to his teammates, and Chouji recognized what he wanted. He tapped Ino's shoulder, and she scowled, but reluctantly agreed.

Shikamaru made a hand seal, looking at Dosu. He sent chakra into his shadow and willed it to extend. Dosu wouldn't know what hit him until it was too late. When the shadow connected to his, Shikamaru announced his presence by standing up and walking out of the bushes, with the Oto-nin imitating his actions.

"Kagemane no jutsu…success." His teammates walked out behind him, and Akina got out of her battle stance, nodding in thanks to them. She walked towards Dosu, reaching into his ninja pouch and taking his scroll. Ino looked at it and found it to be the one that they needed.

"Hey, that's…!" Akina seemed to notice, and tossed it towards her. She caught it, surprised. "What…? Why?"

Takamaru Akina wrapped her small hands around Dosu's neck, nodding towards Shikamaru. Right when he released his hold on the other boy's shadow, Akina sent a burst of chakra into his neck, knocking him out just like the rest of his team. Dosu dropped onto the ground, unconscious.

"Mutual benefits…" she murmured, moving back as Sasuke came over and tied Dosu up with wire. Naruto idly rubbed his stomach before walking over to Shikamaru and Chouji, grinning at them.

"Yo! Shikamaru, Chouji! So what do you think of the "Forest of Death" so far?" He used air quotes when saying the name of the forest, not at all intimidated by it. The Nara just sighed.

"Troublesome…"

"It's all right…but there's not much food around here…"

Naruto just nodded at them as the panthers came back into the clearing. Ino and Chouji glanced at them wearily, but Chouji quickly relaxed when he saw that Shikamaru didn't look worried at all.

Five panthers stepped forward, lying down in front of them. Akina climbed onto Kouseki's back, signaling the others to get on the big cats' backs as well. "This will help cover our tracks better."

Shikamaru got on without a word, inwardly happy that he didn't have to move anymore. He laid his head on the black cat's back, finding a comfortable position and promptly started to doze off.

Ino picked the only female panther, still cautious. When they were all settled, Akina nodded, and the group of animals. They took off without another word, and most of their stomachs jumped at the speed they started at. Shikamaru, however, didn't move a muscle, merely sleeping on. Ino sent him a slightly annoyed look before sighing, clutching the panther's fur in fear of falling off. At the height that they were, it was highly likely that if she fell, she'd go, in Naruto's words, "splat."

Naruto himself, however, reacted differently. "Whooo-hoo! Man, this is cool! Can we go faster?"

The panther he was riding on laughed loudly, and the sound came out as roaring. ("This Uzumaki Naruto is a lively cub, isn't he?")

Kouseki just laughed in her bark-like way, not caring whether not Naruto heard, since he was right there and could understand. ("You should know better by now.")

This made the rest of the animals chuckle as well. Naruto's panther nodded, not at all winded by the run. ("I suppose I should…now, let's see if we can't go faster?")

The others nodded, and Sasuke prepared by getting a better grip. Naruto noticed as well, as the big cat's muscles tensed. "Oi! You guys better hold on! We're gonna have a blast!"

Team Ten hastened to obey the order, though Shikamaru did it while grumbling, since Naruto's loud yell of happiness had woken him up.

("Okay!")

In a gust of leaves, the six beasts literally disappeared as they all raced towards the tall tower in the middle of the forest.

Ino's stomach flipped at the sensation, and Chouji muttered about a stomachache. Akina, however, was smiling, though the other humans were too busy hanging on to notice. It felt great to fly through the air. Kouseki, however, did, and grinned. _Let's see if I can make the pup happier._

She sped ahead of the group, putting more and more distance between them, yet still staying in sight. As they passed by, Naruto and Sasuke saw her look of happiness, and felt slightly honored that she would let them see her like that, being such a secretive girl.

("Come on you guys, let's get these pups to the Tower,") barked Kouseki. The panthers replied with a series of happy roars of agreement, and they went to catch up with the wolf.

_So this is what it feels like to be Akina…_ came Ino's idle thought. _Someone or something is always there to keep her company and help out. And she was always a silent one, too…_

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Teams Seven and Ten stood in front of each other, in front of the tower. Ino stood in front of her team, and Akina hers. Ino grunted in an un-ladylike way, waving the scroll they gave her at them.

"…thanks."

Naruto blinked in surprise. Ino hated Akina's guts. So for her to thank the other girl was really a change. Akina's lips twitched into a small, and barely noticeable smile.

"Your welcome." She said it loud and clear, more louder than her usual quiet murmur, to show that she meant it and was happy to help her former classmates. Ino blinked as well, nodding slightly and turning around. Her team followed her as they walked to their doors.

"Ino."

The blond stopped, turning back and looking at the girl. "Yeah? What is it?"

Akina's smile disappeared, and Ino knew she was serious now. "If we fight, I want it to be a good match…wear your hitai-ate with pride like a true kunoichi."

Ino glared at her, good mood now ruined. _Is she saying that that I'm not a true kunoichi?!_

Shikamaru and Chouji cringed as they thought of how she would burst later on due to that one statement. They shuffled over to their gate, edging away from their teammate. Team Seven walked into their own pair of doors.

Kouseki led the way inside, pushing the doors open with her snout and breaking the seal on it. ("That's good advice, Akina-chan…she's not taking her role as a ninja seriously enough…she's using her time chasing after the gaki here instead of training…")

Sasuke ignored this insult since he agreed with what she said, though his eye did twitch slightly. Kouseki was like that. She had a nickname for each member of their team. Naruto was bakayaro-chan. Sasuke was gaki. Akina was pup. And Kakashi's was scarecrow. Since the boys had gotten the seal, they discovered that the wolf was indeed a "potty mouth," and had a large sense of sarcasm.

Naruto interrupted his thoughts by pointing at the sign on the wall, high above them. "What's that?"

Sasuke looked up at the sign, and read the Sandaime Hokage's quote. All three genin took out their scrolls, and Akina and Naruto nodded to each other. As one they opened their scrolls and threw them down as they started smoking.

In a burst of ninja smoke, a familiar face appeared.

"IRUKA-SENSEI!" Naruto jumped and hugged the tan chuunin, laughing in happiness since he already figured out the reason why the teacher was here.

"Naruto, whoa—!"

Iruka awkwardly hugged the orange-clad ninja back, patting it a little before he let go. He blinked at their conditions, expecting them to be a lot worse off.

"Wow…it's not even 24 hours after the start of the second phase, and you're already here…!"

Naruto scanned the chakra signatures in the tower, automatically recognizing Kiba's. He pouted. "That's not fair! I wanted my team to be first!"

Iruka sweat dropped. "Well…that one Sand Team with the red-head came in first…around one hour after the exam started."

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, and Naruto scowled. The same thought went through their minds. _Sabaku no Gaara…_

"Anyways…we chuunin are to welcome the examinees at the end of this Second Exam. I was given the duty to pass the three of you a message by chance. Everyone…congratulations on passing the Second Exam. I'd like to treat you to ramen at Ichiraku, but…"

Kouseki's eye twitched. _I think he forgot what the words 'ramen' does to bakayaro-chan…_

Naruto interrupted him by glomping him again. "ALL RIGHT!"

"Whoa, wait! Let me finish!" Naruto let go and stepped back, pouting.

"My other mission is to explain to you what the sign on the wall means…unless someone else here already knows what it means?" He looked pointedly at Akina. If Naruto were in her situation, he would have pointed to himself, blinking innocently.

Ever since Iruka tested Naruto on whether or not he could take the Chuunin Exams, Iruka had taken it upon himself to find out whatever he could about the quiet girl, and find out just who she was. This was a perfect opportunity to see just how smart she was.

("It seems that someone is interested in you, pup,") chuckled Kouseki. Akina nodded and decided to oblige to her former sensei's small request.

"This is Hokage-sama's principal on what we should remember as chuunin. Heaven is the head of the person. Earth is the body. If you do not possess Heaven, gain knowledge by studying and be prepared. If you do not possess Earth, 'run through the fields' and train your body, seeking strength. If you have both Heaven and Earth, any dangerous missions will become safe…even easy if you train enough…the missing character symbolizes a chuunin."

This was the most Akina has ever said at once, no matter how quietly she said it, and Iruka blinked at how clearly she explained the sign. It was _also_ clear now that she was not going to talk anymore.

"…right. A chuunin is a commander-class. He has a duty to lead a team. Deeply inscribe into your heart the importance of knowledge and strength in missions. Never forget that chuunin principal, and go on to the next step. That's all I was ordered to tell you." He smiled at them all.

Naruto nodded and saluted to his big brother figure. "Yes sir!" Iruka's gaze fell on him for a few moments before his worries got the better of him.

"But don't push yourselves in the Third Exam. Especially you, Naruto…I'm worried about you the—"

"Iruka-sensei," cut in Naruto, "When I got this Konoha hitai-ate, I graduated from the academy. You don't have to worry. And this is the proof you gave me to show I'm not a child anymore, right Iruka-sensei? I'm not a kid anymore. Right now…I'm a ninja."

The two stared at each other for a few more seconds before the chuunin nodded and smiled apologetically. "Sou ka…gomen, Naruto."

The jinchuuriki just nodded in understanding, grinning again.

"Say…you wouldn't happen to know what the big flame tornado was, do you? It was coming from this direction…almost everyone in the village saw it, and it took me 10 minutes to calm my class down, especially Konohamaru."

Sasuke and Naruto pointed to Akina. The more energetic of the two explained the strange occurrence. "There were all these explosive tags around the forest," here he waved his arms around as if it would give Iruka an idea of how many there were, "And when the hebi-teme tried to bite Sasuke-teme, Akina-chan got in the way and replaced herself with a log covered in more explosive tags, and he went 'boom!' Akina-chan used her bloodline to make it a tornado! Man, I missed it!"

On the way to the tower, Kouseki re-told what had happened in the battle in the tower, half doing it for her own amusement at the cats' reactions, and to explain what happened to Naruto, who was unconscious for the event.

Iruka blinked at the mention of Akina's 'bloodline,' and decided to think about it later.

"You have four days until the next phase. There are rooms upstairs—one for each team. Go ahead and get some rest. There are training rooms and a cafeteria elsewhere, so feel free to look around," he paused, looking at them all again, "And good luck."

Everyone nodded, and watched the scarred chuunin disappear in a puff of gray smoke.

Naruto smiled at his team. "Come on come on! I wanna go see our room and go explore the tower!" He grabbed Sasuke and Akina's hands and pulled them through the door, dragging them upstairs. Sasuke attempted to get his arm back, but Naruto's grip only got stronger, and he sighed silently, going along without another complaint.

They all skidded to a halt in front of a door that led to an empty room, and Naruto finally let go of his teammates' hands and opened it.

Inside were three plain beds with small end tables next to each of them and a low table with three cushions. There was a balcony, and that was it. Naruto jumped onto the bed closest to the window, claiming it as his, while Sasuke took the one in the middle, putting his sleeping bag onto it.

("Come on bakayaro-chan. Didn't you want to look around the tower?") He nodded in response, dropping off his stuff as well. He made an attempt to grab his teammate's hands again, but Sasuke pulled his back at the last moment, smirking at him.

"Not this time. I'd rather not have my arm torn off."

Naruto pouted, and settled for grabbing only Akina's hand before leading the way once again through the tower. Sasuke followed at a calmer pace with Kouseki, who was now snickering at Naruto's sudden burst of energy.

As they made their way through the halls, Naruto avoided the room where Team Ten's chakra signatures were, knowing that Ino needed time to think about what Akina had told her. He suddenly snickered inwardly when he thought about what the two boys had to put up with up there. _I don't want to be in their shoes…_

They heard barking from the cafeteria (as it was now around noon), and Naruto decided to get some grub before continuing with his exploration. He let go of Akina's hand as he opened the doors, immediately spotting Team Eight.

Kiba looked up from eating and waved slightly to them, quickly swallowing the food in his mouth. "Yo, you guys finally got here huh?"

The first thing Naruto did when he reached Kiba was smacking him in the back of the head. "Not everyone had it so easy!"

Kiba smirked at Naruto. "Or maybe it was because my team was more skilled than yours."

Akina ignored the usual bantering between the two animalistic boys and walked over to Akamaru, who was still shaking from what he saw yesterday.

("Blood…demonic…sand…") He kept on repeating those words over and over again, gaining the attention of Sasuke, who had gotten some food while everyone else was greeting each other. He sat down at the table next to Team Eight's.

"_Sabaku no Gaara…"_

"_Yeah."_

Naruto smelled the food on Sasuke's plate, stopping his argument with Kiba with a palm. "Hold it! I need food!"

With that, he ran over to the small buffet laid out by the kitchen area, with Kiba laughing behind him. Akina gave a reassuring pet to the small dog's head before following Naruto's example.

Kouseki sighed and lie down, putting her forearms protectively around the puppy. She picked him up by the scruff of his neck and put him on her front legs, lowering her head, completely covering Akamaru, yet giving him room to breath.

Hinata smiled at this sisterly side of the usually tough wolf. Shino just watched for a while before continuing with his salad. Naruto and Akina sat down at Sasuke's table, digging in. Naruto, of course, chose to eat ramen (he had jumped into the air in happiness when he saw it).

Once Akina had taken a few bites, she tilted her head at Kiba, who on instinct knew that she wanted. His face turned serious.

"It was that red-head with the gourd. What he did back in the forest…" He stopped there, thinking back on the blood and gore, wrinkling his nose in disgust. Naruto was paying attention also, though he was still eating, even if it was quieter. "It was a massacre. He totally destroyed those Rain ninja, and he didn't even break a sweat."

"Who didn't break a sweat?" Everyone looked towards the door to see Team Ten walking inside, drawn by the smell of food after a stressful trip in the forest.

"So, the whole Rookie Nine made it by the second day…" said Kiba.

Ino scowled and shook a fist at him. "Don't doubt our team! Of course we made it! And don't change the subject!"

Chouji had immediately gone for the small buffet, piling all the food he can get onto multiple dishes before balancing them and bringing them to a table next to the other teams, completing the triangle shape. Shikamaru had done the same, though he had gotten a considerably less amount than his best friend.

When they all sat down, Naruto explained what Kiba had been talking about. "That Sand Team made it here in less than one hour, and completely scared Akamaru out of his wits! Kiba said the scene the red-head made was all bloody and gory and stuff!"

Ino scrunched up her face at the description before looking around a bit. "Say, where is the puppy?"

Naruto answered again, since the others were either too lazy to answer, too busy eating, didn't want to answer, or were too quiet to be expected to answer. That left Naruto, who _should_ have been eating his ramen, but he didn't want Ino to get mad or anything.

He pointed down at the floor that was in between the three tables. "Down there. Kouseki-chan, lift your head a bit."

The wolf grumbled a little before lifting her head, revealing a curled up and whimpering Akamaru. Ino peered at him before frowning. "It scared him that much?"

Kiba just muttered a little bit. "It's because he can smell the guy's chakra…"

"So I guess we should try to avoid him, right? How troublesome…"

Some of the others nodded at this, and Kouseki put her head back down.

Akina sensed that Ino had not taken any food and picked up an apple, tossing it to her. She caught it on reflex before blinking. Yamanaka Ino stared at the enigmatic girl, reminded about what she had said to her just about 30 minutes ago.

Kiba's eyebrow rose ever so slightly, and Shikamaru just sighed in response, managing to get his meaning across without actually saying anything.

Ino frowned before biting into the apple, ending the tense staring. Akina's head inclined a little, before she went back to eating. The others followed their example and soon the sound of Naruto's slurping, Kiba's gnawing, and Chouji's chewing filled the room.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Naruto walked in front of the rest of his team, patting his stomach in contentment. Behind him walked Sasuke with his hands shoved into his pockets, and Akina was beside him. Kouseki brought up the rear.

"_So…whatcha guys think of Gaara?"_

"…_I want to fight him."_

They got no response from Akina, and Naruto walked backwards to pout at her. _"Come on Akina-chan! You were the one that showed us how to connect our minds, so you might as well use it by at least giving us an answer!"_

Sasuke looked at her sideways, silently wanting an answer as well.

"…_He seems lonely…"_

Both boys blinked at her. That wasn't exactly the kind of response they were expecting. They knew that she probably wasn't going to be saying anything else, so they didn't bother asking.

They reached the hallways that contained the doors to the training rooms and took a look inside the first one they found, and the first thing they noticed was the statue in the back of the room of hands in a hand seal. There were stairs to an upstairs section where people could view any fights.

("We're probably going to be fighting in the next round…")

The kids nodded, silently agreeing that they would come back to the training rooms later.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Team Seven was in their room, each doing their own thing when someone knocked on the door. Naruto looked up from checking over his equipment, recognizing the chakra signature of the person standing outside. He stood and walked over, opening it to reveal the Sandaime Hokage.

"Old man?"

The 'old man' chuckled at the nickname. "Hello to you, too, Naruto-kun."

From inside the team's room, Sasuke and Akina nodded respectively, murmuring an "Ohayo, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi nodded back before looking seriously at the small genin in front of him. "Naruto-kun, I need to talk to you in the office upstairs."

Naruto blinked before waving a little at his team, following the aged shinobi outside into the hallway and closing the door behind him.

"He knows…" said Sasuke, still looking at the door. Kouseki nodded.

("It's just like the Hokage to know every little thing that happens in his village. Besides…it was kind of hard not to miss the gigantic tornado of fire tearing up a chunk of Area 44.")

Outside, they saw one of Naruto's Kage Bunshin having some fun setting up traps for whoever made it to the tower. Kouseki cast a weary eye towards it before sighing and shaking her head.

The reason why Naruto had not carried the scroll in the first place was because his ninja pouch was already filled with summoning scrolls that held all the tools he needed for his traps. Being a former prankster, he had a lot of experience in the trapping area, and took it upon himself to become the trapping master for the team.

("I do _not_ want to be whoever didn't get into the tower already…") mumbled Kouseki when she heard one of the Kage Bunshin cackle like a mad scientist that had made one of his creations live.

"BUAHAHAHAH!"

Upstairs in the room where all the security cameras were, Naruto sat down in front of the Hokage on a couch, with two ANBU guarding the door to the room.

"So…what do you want ojii-san?"

Sarutobi chewed on his pipe for a while before answering. "Yesterday, your team faced a dangerous shinobi, correct?"

Naruto nodded, frowning. "Yeah, the hebi-teme. He said his name was Orochimaru. I wanted to talk to you about that, old man. He put a weird seal on me and it's messing up my chakra control."

Sarutobi smiled when he heard that Naruto already knew what had happened to him. "Take off your shirt and jacket, and channel some chakra so that I can see your seal."

He did as commanded, putting his hands into the ram seal and concentrating on his chakra. The seal that contained the Kyuubi no Kitsune appeared, and a few seconds later, an odd-numbered seal appeared around it. Sarutobi nodded to himself when he recognized the work of his old student. He looked up at Naruto. "This might hurt a bit."

The demon contained just nodded, not afraid of pain. The Sandaime Hokage held out his open hand towards the boy, and blue flames with kanji appeared on his fingers. In one swift move, he thrust his palm onto the seal that Orochimaru had placed on Naruto.

"Gogyou Kaiin! (Five Elements Unseal)!"

Naruto flew back onto the couch from the force of the hit, grunting slightly as the air was knocked out of his lungs once again. The extra seal on his stomach disappeared, and Naruto felt his chakra steadily regenerating itself again. He smiled at the familiar feeling.

"Thanks ojii-san!"

Sarutobi nodded, smiling back. Naruto got up and went to the door. "Ah, before you go Naruto-kun. Tell your teammates not to tell anyone about Orochimaru. We don't want to trouble them unnecessarily, right?"

Naruto stopped with his hand on the doorknob, turning his head back and grinning back at him. "Don't worry, we won't!"

The grin was still on his face as he walked back towards his team's room, after a minute, another pair of footsteps joined his, and he stopped as none other than Sabaku no Gaara rounded the corner. Both boys stood still and stared at each other.

_Akina-chan says that he seems lonely…_ Naruto's blue eyes studied Gaara's teal eyes, trying to see if he was really as evil as the others say he was. Gaara stared back, instinctively trying to find out if Naruto was a threat or not by seeing if there was any malice or hatred in his eyes.

What Naruto found surprised him. _Those eyes…they're just like mine…_ Deep inside those eyes were loneliness, pain, hatred, bitterness, and once you got past all those barriers and slight insanity…a longing for acceptance. _Demonic chakra…is he…like me?_

Gaara hated what he saw in Naruto's cerulean eyes. Behind the layers upon layers of guarded happiness was sadness, anger, pain, and…understanding. Gaara's eyes narrowed. _No one could possibly understand what I'm going through…no one…_ Once again the Ichibi no Shukaku started acting up again, whispering words into his mind.

'**KILL THE FOX…YES…SILLY LITTLE KITSUNE…HE GOT SEALED AWAY INTO A FLESH BAG! BUAHAHAHA! THE GREAT FOX, REDUCED TO HAVING A **_**HUMAN**_** BODY…!'** Gaara gripped his head in pain, and Naruto's hand went to his stomach on reflex when he felt the spirit in the seal react slightly. _Those eyes…insomnia…his demon isn't letting him sleep…and from the way his brother and sister act around him…they're scared that due to the demon's influence, Gaara would attack them at any moment…_

Shaking slightly, sand started to pour out of the gourd on Gaara's back as he raised his hand towards Naruto. "Yes Mother…I will kill…the fox for you…"

Naruto took a step back, looking apprehensively at the sand. He decided to try something out, now that he was sure that the boy in front of him had some connection to a demon. He made sure that no one would be able to hear them first. Looking into Gaara's eyes, Naruto spoke quietly, mentally keeping track of the moving sand. _He might…be able to understand me…_

"What do you want with the demon inside of me…?"

All movement stopped for a moment as Gaara's eyes momentarily widened in surprise. The words "demon inside of me" repeated in his head as his gaze went to the hand the boy put on his stomach, the same place where his own seal was located.

Naruto was starting to hope that Gaara would understand that they were the same when the other boy started glaring at him.

"Don't lie to me…" he growled lowly.

The orange-clad boy shook his head, making sure that any security cameras weren't around before revealing his stomach, channeling chakra. The seal appeared, and Naruto let Gaara get a good look at it before he put his shirt back down.

Both heard foot steps coming from down the hall, and cursed inwardly at the interruption. Naruto wanted to talk some more, and Gaara wanted to interrogate the other boy.

They stared sternly at each other while the sand went back into Gaara's gourd, silently promising to talk to each other later before continuing to the destination they were going to before, walking past each other.

Naruto turned the corner, seeing that the people they heard walking around was Team Ten. Ino spotted Naruto, and beckoned him to come to over to her. He obeyed, wondering it was that what she wanted.

Ino smirked at him as she talked. "Tell Akina that I'll put my hitai-ate on my head, as long as _she_ pushes up _her_ hitai-ate so that we can see her eyes!"

The boy cringed slightly at the request. Asking Akina to reveal her eyes was like asking Kakashi to take off his mask. Even _he _hadn't seen her eyes, and he's known the girl ever since she started living in Konoha six years ago. The other boys seemed to know this as well, since Chouji was eating a faster rate and Shikamaru was sighing repeatedly.

"Uhh…Ino?" _Gotta handle this situation carefully…_ "I don't think it should take Akina showing her eyes for you to just put your headband on your head…"

Ino scowled. "If putting my hitai-ate on my head is such a little request, then so is pushing her headband up a bit!"

Naruto started sweating a little bit. "Er, that's not what I meant…you don't reveal anything by putting your hitai-ate on your head, but Akina would have to show everyone a secret she's kept for years!"

The other blond was being stubborn. "What does she have to hide? It's just her eyes! Unless she has a scar or something like a mutation…"

A sweat drop appeared on the back of Naruto's head as he suddenly imagined Akina taking off her headband, only to reveal that one eye was drooping, or had a huge scar on it. In the awkwardness of the situation, he had accidentally let the image slip into the mind seal, but had managed to cover it up so that only Sasuke saw it.

"…_What the hell?"_

"_Ah, sorry, sorry! Ino was saying that if she wanted her headband to be on her head than Akina had to show had to show to show her eyes but I know that Akina would never show her eyes since I've known her since we were little and she's never even shown me her eyes so why should she show it to her rival? Everyone in the Rookie Nine knows this, plus Lee for some reason!"_

Sasuke had not understood half of what his teammate had been babbling because of how fast-paced he had been thinking.

"_Ino…Akina…eyes?"_

Naruto seemed to sense the Uchiha's confusion. _"Ah, just don't tell Akina-chan, okay?"_

"_Hn."_

The boy took it as a yes and sighed in relief, when he realized that Team Ten was staring at him. He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Ah, sorry. Bad image…"

Ino nodded slowly, still not fully believing the shinobi. "…Right…Anyways, pass that onto Akina, okay? Okay, see ya!"

With that, she grabbed her teammates' arms and dragged them away, escaping before Naruto could get a word in. He scowled.

"Damn."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Naruto had just explained Ino's request to Akina, and was now waiting nervously for her answer. It wasn't that he was afraid that she was going to hurt someone or something like that; it was just that Akina seemed to be kind of touchy about her eyes.

Sasuke on the other hand was pondering on what she was hiding beneath the headband, and trying to get the weird images of what _could_ be under it out of his mind. Both boys already saw what her face looked like, when they gave each other mind seals—just not her eyes.

It was a little too quiet for his comfort, so Naruto repeated the last thing he had said. "So, will you do it?"

Akina had made no reaction so far, sitting on a cushion at the low table. "Hai; it is important for Ino to take the life of a shinobi seriously…"

Naruto, Sasuke, and Kouseki blinked, shocked at her answer. She was actually going to reveal what was hidden underneath the hitai-ate? The orange-clad ninja suddenly grinned.

"When? When?!"

Akina took a sip from her water bottle. "If we do battle."

The grin grew wider, and he jumped into the air, excited that he would finally find out her secret.

"YATTA!"

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Three days later, the teams that had made it through the Forest of Death had gathered in the Main Arena, which Team Seven recognized as the first training room that they had seen. Everyone lined up according to their teams, and in front of them all stood their jounin-sensei and some Chuunin Exams officials.

Sarutobi stepped forward and coughed slightly to get their attention. All talking immediately stopped, showing everyone that even in his old age, the man still had an air of wisdom that one just had to respect.

"First off, congratulations on passing the Second Exam."

At this point, Anko was a little awed at how many had passed. _I said that I would cut the number of people in half, but what I really expected was for about 10 people to pass…not 21._

Gai looked out at all the genin. "Your team is pretty good. Perhaps they were lucky. But as long as my team is here, they can't go on any further. Since, in the next stage, personal abilities will be critical. Youth is sweet and sour, and sometimes, strict, Kakashi."

He looked sideways at Kakashi, expecting some sort of reaction. Kakashi turned his head. "Did you say something?"

Gai slapped his hands to his head, inwardly screaming to the gods. _Oh, my god! _He lowered his hands and clenched his fist. _That was pretty good, rival Kakashi. That attitude is somewhat hip, and pisses me off._

From the arena floor, Tenten looked at the scene, smiling slightly. _So that's Gai-sensei's eternal rival. Gai-sensei completely loses to him in looks…_

There was some slight killer intent coming from the Sound Team, and Kouseki sweat dropped when she remembered why.

("Oh yeah, the Oto-nin are probably still mad about being knocked out so fast with two of their ninja almost all the way under the ground. Hehehe…")

Kiba raised an eyebrow, idly calming Akamaru down with his petting hand. Kouseki just shrugged.

("Nothing, nothing…")

The Sound jounin smirked at Kabuto, and the silver-haired genin responded by standing a little bit straighter. Akina noticed, but didn't say anything. Both she and Kouseki recognized his scent, despite not smelling it for four days. Demonic senses came in handy.

_So this many remained…and most of them are new,_ thought Sarutobi, looking back at the jounin sensei of Konoha. _No wonder why they recommended them._

"We will now have an explanation of the Third Exam from Hokage-sama. Everyone listen well," said Anko.

"The Third Exam will begin. But before the explanation, there's one thing I want to make clear to all of you. It's about the true purpose of this exam. Why do we do a joint exam with the allied nations. "To maintain good relations with the allied nations" and "heighten the level of the ninja"… Do not let those reasons deceive you. This "exam", so to speak, is…

…the epitome of a war between the allied nations. If we go back through history, the allied nations right now were neighboring countries that have fought each other over and over again. To avoid wasting military power, those countries decided to choose a place to fight…That is the beginning of the Chuunin Selection Exams. Yes, this Exam's purpose _is_ to select who to promote to the chuunin level.

But, on the other hand, it's also a place where ninja fight and carry their country's dignity. In this Third Exam, feudal lords and famous people from various countries who may be potential clients are invited here as guests. And feudal lords from countries with hidden villages and ninja leaders will see your battles.

If there's a significant difference in power, the strong country will be flooded with jobs. If a country is seen as weak, their jobs will decrease. And at the same time, countries are able to show how their village has grown and possess excellent military power to the adjacent countries.

In other words, they can put foreign pressures on them. A country's power is the village's power. And a village's power is the ninja's power. And a ninja's true power is only born in life-or-death battle. This Exam is also a place to show off the ninjas power of one's country.

Since this is an exam where you fight with your life on the line, it has a meaning…

And your predecessors have fought and dreamed of being in the Chuunin Exams because of it. To show good relations in the world of ninja…is the custom of showing one's life and fighting to maintain balance.

This is a life-or-death battle for your dream and village's dignity."

("The old man sure likes to beat around the bush, huh?") mumbled Kouseki.

"I will now begin the explanation of the Third Exam, but…"

A jounin dropped in, bowing in front of the Hokage. "Excuse me, Hokage-sama…I, Gekkou Hayate, the judge, will explain."

"Please do."

He stood up and turned around. "Everyone, it's nice to meet you. Before the Third Exam…(cough cough) There's something I want to do…(cough cough) I need you to fight in some preliminary matches to see who gets to advance to the Third Exam's main battle."

There were some complaints in the crowd.

"We need preliminary matches because the First and Second Exams were too easy, I don't know…but there are too many examinees left. According to Exam regulations, we must decrease the number of participants for the Third Exam because the important people attending don't have time to watch you all fight.

We are on limited time here as well, so those who aren't feeling well…(hacking cough)…"

"_He__ seems like the one who's not feeling well…"_ commented Naruto.

"Excuse me. If anyone wants to quit after hearing the explanation…Please let me know. The preliminary matches will begin immediately. (cough cough) I forgot to mention this, but you will have one-on-one matches from here on out. So please withdraw if you wish."

Here, Kabuto raised his hand, gaining the attention of the Konoha adults in the room. "I'll quit."

Hayate nodded and looked onto his clip board. "(cough cough) You are Konoha's Yakushi Kabuto-kun? You may leave, then."

"Hai."

He walked towards the exit, stopping to chat a bit with his teammates before leaving. Akina listened in on the conversation, remembering it so that she can tell her superiors later. Anko, Ibiki, and Sarutobi watched, now sure that he was a spy, since he had taken the Exams many times, and always quit a this point.

"(cough) May I assume there are no more people who wish to retire?" Silence. "Then let's begin the preliminary matches. It will be a one-on-one match. In other words, it will be like real combat. Since we have exactly 20 people, we will have 10 matches. And the winners will be able to advance to the Third Exam. There are no rules. You will fight until the other person dies, is knocked out…or admits defeat. If you do not want to die, please give up immediately. However, if I judge that the match is over…(couch cough) I may stop you to prevent any unnecessary deaths. The thing that holds your destiny…"

He nodded back to Anko, who did the same. She spoke into a small device. "Open it."

A panel on the upper left side of the two arms in a hand seal slid open, revealing a black screen. "…will be this. This screen will randomly display the names of two fighters for each match. Without further ado, I will now display the names for the first match."

The screen flashed through all the names of the examinees, and Naruto watched anxiously, half wanting to see his own name, and half wanting to see Ino and Akina's name.

Speaking of Akina, she couldn't sense what was on the screen because it was flat, and when different images or names were shown, the change in the heat of that area of the screen would be so minuscule that she would have to put all her concentration onto it and use her manipulation abilities. It would just be easier to have Kouseki or one of her teammates read it to her.

'_Akadou Yoroi VS. Uchiha Sasuke'_

A smirk slowly made its way onto Sasuke's face. _"Right off the bat, eh?"_

Kouseki grunted. ("It's Akadou Yoroi VS. the gaki.") said Kouseki, for Akina's benefit.

"Those whose names were displayed, step up." Sasuke and Yoroi walked forward, stopping to face each other in front of Hayate. "These are the fighters for the first match. Are there any objections?"

"No."

"We will now begin the first match. (cough cough) Everyone other than the two fighters, please move up."

The crowd separated, with the foreigners going on one side, and the Konoha-nin going on the other. The Hokage walked to the area in the middle. Team Seven met around Sasuke for a bit.

Naruto clapped a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "You better not lose, teme!" Sasuke brushed his hand off.

"I won't. You better not lose either…I want to fight you, too."

Naruto grinned at him before being the first of them to go up the stairs. Akina nodded at him, and both Kakashi and Kouseki wished him good luck before following Naruto up the stairs.

Akina sat down against the wall next to her sensei's feet, and Naruto and Kouseki were up by the railing, looking down excitedly at the arena.

When they were all off the arena floor, Hayate looked between both fighters, seeing the ready. "Hajime."

Akina let half of her attention rest on her teammate's battle, leaving the rest to watch over the Tower.

Since the beginning of the battle when Yoroi made his hand glow blue, Sasuke had been weary of it, and saw that he kept on making grabs for him to hold onto. He had dodged them all while landing a few punches and kicks in between, being careful to stay away from the hand. Eventually Yoroi was lured into a trap by trying to attack a Kage Bunshin while Sasuke appeared behind him and knocked him out with a hit to the neck.

Team Seven had traded techniques, and Naruto was proud to teach them Kage Bunshin. Sasuke taught them Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu (Grand Fireball) . Akina taught them how to release chakra in their attacks to make them more harmful.

Hayate coughed again when he saw that Yoroi was unconscious. "The winner: Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke smirked again before walking up to his team. Naruto grinned at him, and Akina inclined her head slightly to show her approval. Kouseki barked a bit, and Kakashi just eye-smiled at him.

The judge coughed, and the panel started to randomly select names again, and stopped at:

'_Aburame Shino VS. Abumi Zaku'_

This one was rather short, where Shino outsmarted the Oto-nin by having his kikai bugs appear on the other side of him, trapping the boy between the two opponents. When he tried using both his arms to use his Zankuuha, the insides of his arm blew up because the bugs had clogged the holes.

Several genin on the Leaf side scrunched up their faces at how his arms turned up. There were holes in his arms. Kurenai commented on how coldly Shino had defeated him. When Shino passed by Team Seven, Akina congratulated him with a quiet "Smart thinking, Shino-san."

He stopped for a bit to nod at her in thanks before walking over to his team.

Hayate coughed again, leading Kouseki to come up with quite a few theories about him. The screen flashed again.

'_Tsurugu Misumi VS. Sabaku no Kankurou'_

Her teammates didn't say anything, so she assumed that it wasn't anyone they knew personally.

In the beginning of the battle, the last member of Kabuto's team had stretched much like Orochimaru's neck had in the forest, wrapping around the Suna-nin and squeezing his neck until it cracked. The skin cracked off, revealing that it was really the puppet. The bandages of the object that had dropped unraveled themselves to reveal the true Kankurou, who manipulated his puppet to knock out the Leaf-nin.

"The winner is Sabaku no Kankurou," Hayate coughed out, as the screen selected another pair of names.

Naruto blinked when he read the names aloud. "Yamanaka Ino VS. Takamaru Akina…Akina-chan, it's just like you said!"

Akina stood up and hopped onto the railing, jumping off and easily landing on the ground near Gekkou Hayate without a sound with Kouseki beside her. Ino smirked and did the same, landing on the side opposite to her.

"Hajime!"

Both girls didn't move. "So, it really is the two of us, huh?"

Akina nodded.

"Did Naruto tell you my end of the deal?"

"Hai. I agree, but you must follow through with your end first."

Almost everyone in the arena was left confused at the conversation. It seemed the only ones that knew what they were talking about were the genin of Teams Seven and Ten.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Deal?"

Naruto shushed him, leaning anxiously over the railing. "You'll see, Kakashi-sensei. You'd better watch closely, too."

Ino nodded, untying the Leaf hitai-ate around her waist, and relocating it onto her forehead, where it was supposed to go.

Asuma blinked. _What got her to be serious about being a kunoichi?_

The Sandaime Hokage was interested as well, not remembering Ino to be a person that would do such a thing.

Ino pointed to Akina. "Now it's your turn."

She nodded, raising a hand to her headband, and slowly started to push it up. As one, all the Rookie genin from Leaf leaned forward, waiting in anticipation. Kakashi's eye brows raised more. _Oh?_ The other jounin sensei watched in amusement.

Akina pushed her headband all the way up, keeping her eyes closed and revealing that there was in fact nothing wrong with her face. Every Leaf genin but Naruto and Sasuke carefully studied her face, wanting to remember what it looked like because they knew that this would probably be the only time that Akina would show them her face willingly.

They waited for a few more seconds before Ino got impatient, tapping her foot slightly. "Well? What about your eyes?"

Akina tilted her head slightly in question, still keeping her eyes shut. Ino frowned. "Your eyes! Are you going to show us your eyes?"

"I don't recall any part of the deal that told me to do that."

The higher-ranked shinobi caught onto what she was doing and chuckled inwardly. Kakashi grinned underneath his mask. _She twisted around the words and found a loop-hole, smart…_

A scowl made its way onto Ino's face. "Yes it did!"

But Akina just shook her head slightly. "Your exact words were: Tell Akina that I'll put my hitai-ate on my head, as long as _she_ pushes up _her_ hitai-ate so that we can see her eyes. In no way did you say that I had to actually _open_ my eyes."

Beside the small girl, Kouseki grinned, seeing the disappointed faces up on the Leaf genin.

Ino huffed and put her hands to her headband. "Fine! Then I'm putting this back on my waist, where I want it to be!"

Akina frowned at this. "Hold it. The only reason I asked you to put that hitai-ate on your forehead was to tell you to take your role as a ninja more seriously."

Her hands stopped, and she glared at the shorter girl. "I _am_ taking my job seriously!"

The frown grew deeper. "You're not. You spend your time trying to win Sasuke's heart and making yourself look as beautiful as you can when you could be using that time better to train. You don't seem to realize that later on you might even lose your life because you didn't train yourself enough, or even worse, it'll cost your teammates' lives. Do you want that?"

Ino frowned. "Of course not!"

"Then stop being so foolish."

The Yamanaka flinched, lowering her hands. Up on the catwalks, Sasuke was hoping that Ino would listen to Akina. That would mean one less fan girl to worry about. Shikamaru and Chouji shifted uncomfortably. That was the most that Akina has _ever_ said around them at one time. It meant that she was dead serious about this.

Her words were a little harsher than it should have been, but she said what was needed to be said. Besides, it was necessary with such a stubborn girl.

Akina shifted her body into her starting stance, wiping any signs of the subtle emotions she had earlier off of her face. Beside her, Kouseki raised her hackles in preparation for battle.

Ino saw this and did the same, clenching her hands into fists. "You're just saying this because you want Sasuke-kun for yourself!"

Kouseki stifled a groan. ("She's denying everything.")

"If you really think that way…then you should think about the reason you became a shinobi."

Ino was about to retort, but was interrupted by a volley of shuriken. She brought out a kunai to block them, but right when the first one made contact with her blade, they exploded into a large cloud of black ninja smoke.

"Eek!"

Akina jumped into the smoke, and the arena grew silent. Kouseki looked into the shroud of smoke and sat down, knowing that she won't be needed anymore. When she was sure that the silent scuffle inside the smoke was over, she howled loudly at it, blowing away the smoke while also making a couple genin jump because of the sudden noise and the fact that it sounded creepy.

The ninja smoke was blown away, revealing a knocked out Ino being supported by Akina, who didn't look like she had a problem holding the taller girl up. Her hitai-ate was also back over her eyes.

Hayate nodded at her. "The winner is Takamaru Akina."

Akina shifted the blonde's body so that she was carrying her bridal style, and walked up the stairs, with Kouseki following behind her.

As she walked by Neji's team, Tenten stopped her by putting a hand on her shoulder. "Ah, wait up a bit…"

The younger girl stopped (it was obvious who was older, since Akina was more than a head shorter than the weapons master) and bowed her head a little respectively. "Yes sempai?"

Tenten looked a little surprised at being referred to in such a way. Then she remembered something Lee had said about the girl while in the Forest. He said that she was always polite whenever she spoke, even if it was rare.

She waved her hands a little, feeling awkward. "Ah, you don't have to call me sempai—just Tenten. Anyways…I agree with you. Kunoichi should take their job more seriously just like shinobi. We don't want to be shown up by the guys, right?"

Akina sensed that Tenten felt really strongly about this and simply nodded. Tenten smiled and let go of the girl's shoulder, letting her walk by. Neji watched her, having used his Byakugan to see through the smoke. She had easily knocked out the other girl. _It seems that she doesn't want others to find out how strong she really is…_

Lee grinned and flashed his teeth, clenching his fists and somehow creating a genjutsu of fire behind him. "YOSH! AKINA-CHAN IS SPREADING HER FLAMES OF YOUTH TO INO-SAN!"

Tenten sweat dropped, embarrassed that she was on their team. Neji closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose as Gai joined into Lee's shouting.

Hayate coughed, and the screen started to randomly pick the names for the next match. Kouseki pointed to him with her large paw. ("I knew it! THAT SCREEN IS COUGH-ACTIVATED!")

Naruto's head slammed into the railing as he fell anime-style, but missed the floor and ended up hitting the metal bars. Kiba started laughing loudly, and Akamaru (who was inside Kiba's jacket) chuckled a little.

"Ahahaah…cough-activated screen…ahaha…"

The other genin smiled, now that Kiba had translated what the wolf had said, and finding the statement funny as well.

Akina felt Ino shift slightly and hurried over to where Team Ten was standing, placing her down against the wall next to Asuma. She nodded to him in respect before walking back to her team, where Naruto was rubbing his head and laughing at the same time.

A beep from the screen called them to attention.

'_Ama Tenten VS. Sabaku no Temari'_

((AN: Due to the fact that Kishimoto-sempai has not told us her surname, I will be assuming that this is her last name since in some foreign subtitles, they have been referring to her as this, even though they do not mean that Ama is her last name.))

Akina once again sat down against the wall, since she couldn't see, she might as well not lean over the railings as Naruto had been doing.

From the place where Team Eight was standing, Hinata faced Akina, whispering a small "Congratulations Akina-chan." The girl heard through all the racket (Kiba and Naruto were still laughing a little) and nodded briefly in her direction.

The sickly looking jounin looked at both of the kunoichi, and saw them ready.

"All right, hajime!"

* * *

Okay! A new record for me! I typed up two long chapters in one week! (jumps around) YOSH! And this is my longest! I broke the 10k barrier people!


	13. Shishou no Ryuuki

Err, yeah. I _think_ I got a flame the last time I updated a chapter (review to chapter one), but I guess I was feeling kind of weird because I responded like she just asked regular questions…hehe.

Well, I guess it was _kind of_ constructive criticism, except she kind of didn't get all the facts before she reviewed. I gotta remind you people that before you push that button to comment or something, double-check that you didn't miss anything! Like the fact that Akina's age was stated smack dab at the top of the chapter, right after you found out that Akina was blind.

_Because Takamaru Akina was blind._

_And by some odd turn of events, was graduating one year early, with the upperclassmen._

And then it goes on to describe how it was like for her in Naruto's year. O.o. Pay attention people.

I suppose there was a bit of Ino bashing, guys, but you have to understand that since in this story, Sakura was replaced by someone who took their job seriously from the start, she feels threatened in a sense and makes up for it by trying to take control of the entire situation. And about the yelling at Akina thing…guys, she considers her a rival, mm'kay? It's not really that different than before, just that it's more one-sided than anything…

Ino will get better, I promise. There just had to be some conflict between a few characters in order for this story to progress. Everything is happening for a reason…

Oh yeah, one more reminder. This fanfiction will show many many more signs of AU after the Finals.

You were warned.

"Talking"

_Thinking_

"_Telepathy through mind seal"_

("Animals talking / "_Telepathy with animals"_)

"**Demonic language"/ 'Demon talking telepathically to their jinchuuriki'**

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I suppose that you already knew this, neh?

* * *

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

**::;Seeing the Truth;::**

**Chapter 13: Shishou no Ryuuki**

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Akina's black bangs swayed to and fro as Temari unleashed wave after wave of wind to counter Tenten's weapons. Lee and Gai's cheering echoed in the large room, but she paid no heed to it. She leaned against the wall and evened out her breathing, slowly fading into some light meditation, trying to lengthen the range at which she could bend the elements to her will.

Kouseki glanced at her before looking back down at the arena floor, only to see that the Leaf kunoichi had lost her battle and had to be caught by Lee when her body was thrown off of the large fan. She watched Temari go back up to her team, and inwardly sighed.

_That bites. She had to go against the one person that she had no chance of winning against from the beginning._

The screen flashed again, and chose the next examinees.

'Nara Shikamaru VS. Tsuchi Kin'

Shikamaru's groan and mutter of "Troublesome…" reached Naruto's ears, who just snickered slightly.

He shuffled downstairs and stood in front of the long haired girl, slouching so much that Kouseki had to wonder how he could balance himself out and not fall over on his face.

Akina slipped deeper into her meditation, already knowing the outcome of the battle. Shikamaru was a little like Akina, hiding his real abilities behind an attitude of not caring.

In another room inside the tower, Kabuto was meeting with Orochimaru. Akina noticed the two humans that were not watching the fights, the only reason that everyone was here in the first place. She tapped into the earth beneath their feet and listened to their conversation through the winds.

After Shikamaru knocked out the sound kunoichi, Naruto and Kiba grinned at each other and jumped into the arena, tossing witty banter. Both boys noticed that Akina was still meditating, and hollered at her from the arena floor.

"OIII! AKINA-CHAN!"

"YO! WAKE UP!"

The talking between Orochimaru and the spy, Kabuto, had ended, and Akina allowed herself to be "awakened" by the two boys. She lifted her head and got up, positioning herself beside Sasuke in front of the railing. They seemed satisfied with this, and went back to arguing with each other over who would win.

"Fight Number 7, between…"

Gekkou Hayate sweat dropped once he realized that they weren't really paying attention to him. He cleared his throat, and ended up coughing horribly. Kiba and Naruto looked at him wearily and distanced themselves from each other and him, fearing that his coughing might be contagious.

"Ahem. Gomen. Fight Number 7 between Inuzuka Kiba and Uzumaki Naruto…begin!"

The two had talked enough before the battle, and were completely focused on beating the other right now. Kiba appeared in front of Naruto in a burst of speed and slammed into him, sending the boy skidding backwards several yards.

Naruto grimaced slightly and rubbed his chest area where he was hit. The two ran towards each other after Naruto had gotten over Kiba's increase in strength, landing glancing blows on each other as they tested how strong the other was.

They gave one last punch towards each other and skidded back, now satisfied of each other's abilities.

The same thought ran through both of their minds.

_I'll win._

Kiba used Shikyaku no jutsu (Four Legs Technique) and Juujin Bunshin (Beast Human clone) with Akamaru to out maneuver Naruto. But Naruto evened out the odds by forming Kage Bunshin.

After a minute of repetitive dodging and attacking, no one was getting any clear advantage, so Kiba took it to the next level.

"Gatsuuga (Double Piercing Fang)!"

Two whirlwinds of claws and fangs shot through the air, forcing Naruto to re-adjust his plan slightly. He narrowly avoided the slashing attacks for a few more moments before creating multiple clones. By the time they had all been destroyed, Naruto was gone.

Kiba stopped his attack and cautiously looked over the entire arena floor, his back facing a wall so that he couldn't be attacked from behind. His eyes narrowed once he realized that Naruto was nowhere in sight.

_Where is that--!_

His thought was interrupted when he was suddenly pulled into the arena floor by a pair of hands. He clenched his fanged teeth and glanced to the side to see that Akamaru had suffered the same fate. His face contorted into a scowl before both man and beast were struck with an idea.

"GATSUUGA!"

Using their chakra, they unscrewed themselves out of their little prisons, sending a shower of gravel everywhere. A dust cloud went up, obscuring everything from view.

From up on the catwalks, Sasuke heard many kunai and shuriken being thrown and batted away, along with Naruto's grunt of pain.

When the smoke cleared, Naruto was covered with some minor looking scratches, his clothes ripped in several places. Many of the steel weapons were scattered about the floor. Kiba was on the other side of the floor, grinning at how easy he would take the victory now that his opponent was tired out a bit.

Kouseki shook her head in slight dismay. _Damned idiot still has that arrogance...it will be his downfall..._

He launched his drilling attack again, aiming for the jinchuuriki. Once he reached the middle of the arena, a cloud of black ninja smoke rose again. The whirling tornadoes continued, ignoring the smoke. When he was halfway towards Naruto, the boy smirked in the face of what might be his demise, confusing some of the genin.

That is, until they heard multiple voices shouting: "Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu (Grand Fireball)!"

Two rows of Naruto clones each looked up at the roof and breathed out their fireballs simultaneously. Kiba and Akamaru passed by four fireballs, whose flames just nicked his claws, but didn't reach him, before he realized what Naruto was planning.

_Dammit!_

The various shinobi upstairs, after getting over the intense heat that had circled around the room, noticed the tornadoes gradually losing their spin and speed as they passed by the tornadoes, before Sasuke just smirked to himself, being a fire-user himself and knowing what Naruto had been planning.

Five feet away from a grinning Naruto, the jutsu canceled itself, and out from the whirling winds emerged a woozy pair of Kibas, half-glaring at the orange-clad boy.

"Wh...what the hell did you do to us?"

The other boy just raised a finger, waving it at him for a bit and shaking his head. "Nope! Not yet...first, I gotta finish something first."

He disappeared and reappeared behind Kiba, effectively restraining him by grabbing his arms and twisting them towards his back, doing this same with the other Kiba. Another pair of clones stepped up towards the trapped animal-like Kibas and raised kunais to their necks.

Hayate coughed and motioned his arm towards the side the Naruto had started on. "The winner is Uzumaki Naruto."

Kiba and Akamaru were released, and they promptly returned to their normal forms and checked by the medic-nin who rushed onto the scene. After they were deemed healthy enough to not be sent to the infirmary, the two Leaf-nin walked back up the stairs.

"Explain what you did, Naruto-baka." There was a bark of agreement.

Naruto grinned as he put his hands behind his head, laughing to himself. "Fire sucks up oxygen. I thought you knew that?"

The scowl was back on the dog boy's face, but inside he was wondering how Naruto had gotten so smart. _He's not the same idiot as before..._

They reached Team Seven, where Naruto received a smirk from Sasuke and an eye smile from Kakashi. Both Akina and Kouseki were non-responsive for a short few seconds before the girl nodded at both of them for a good fight, and the wolf grinned.

Both the boys and the dog seemed to find this acceptable, since they had to choose between the two, their friends since they've 'moved' to Konoha.

Kouseki automatically looked up at the screen when Hayate next coughed, and, sure enough, her theory was proved correct when it selected the next fighters. Sasuke looked up, now a little more interested in the fight.

"Hyuuga Neji and Hyuuga Hinata, please come down."

Naruto tensed slightly at what this fight represented, as did all other Leaf higher ups and anyone else that knew about the Hyuuga clan's situation.

Hinata cringed and avoided all eye contact with Neji, who had jumped onto the arena floor, inwardly smirking to himself at this opportunity. She shuffled along the catwalks, confidence now at an all time low.

Akina didn't sit down again like others thought she would, choosing to stand up and silently support the shy girl in what might be the worst match up ever. Hinata approached the area where Team Seven and Kiba were standing, when the Inuzuka stepped in front of her, frowning.

"Hinata-chan...please give up this fight. You and I both know that Neji'll kill you."

His response was a shiver. Kouseki rubbed her head against the girl's side in an attempt to ease her nerves a little.

It didn't work.

Her eyes lifted from the floor for a second, and Naruto caught it firmly. They locked gazes, neither letting go, even Hinata, who in her frightened state gotten over her blushing state that seemed to occur when she was within fifteen feet of Naruto.

Naruto searched through the eyes that all Hyuuga inherited (though Hinata's had a slight purple hue around the edges, and were much, _much_ less intense), seeing a small sense of determination that seemed eerily familiar.

He nodded firmly and grinned comfortably. "Good luck."

The blush came back full force as she stuttered, momentarily forgetting that she was to fight her cousin in a minute. "A-Arigatou, N-N-Naruto-kun..."

A blond eyebrow was raised before he inwardly smacked himself silly for adopting the Uchiha's habits. He shrugged and made a shooing motion towards Hinata, urging her to go down to the arena floor. Kiba cast a sharp glare at Naruto once his team mate had started going down the stairs.

"What the hell are you doing?! Do you want her to be killed?!"

Naruto looked to the side, frowning in thought. "Some things are worth fighting for...you wouldn't understand..."

Underneath them, Hinata had finally gotten into position to fight, but when Hayate had started the fight, Neji didn't move or bother getting into his stance (which was obviously going to be the same one as Hinata's).

Kouseki stared incredulously at the 13-year-old as he preceded to mentally destroy Hinata without so much as moving a muscle. _Is this how the Hyuuga treat their own flesh and blood?_ She shook her head in disgust, growling lowly to herself.

Hinata was near tears by the end of it, and it looked like Naruto wasn't going to take it anymore. He gripped the railing tightly and leaned over it, glaring at Neji.

"OI!! Why don't you just SHUT THE HELL UP! That destiny and fate stuff is a load of bullshit!" he snarled, then turned to face Hinata. "Hinata! Don't let this idiot trash-talk you! It isn't true!"

Neji sneered. "Yeah? How would you know, dead last?"

Naruto's hands twitched as he tried his best to restrain himself. He only accepted that nickname from Sasuke, and only on very rare occasions did he get let off without some sort of rude retort.

The Hyuuga boy snorted softly to himself before turning back towards Hinata, only to narrow his eyes slightly when he saw fierce determination in her white eyes. He finally shifted into the same starting stance as his cousin.

"I will not be held responsible for anything that may happen in this fight, _Hinata-sama_."

The native onlookers watched on grimly as Neji pounded Hinata until she was half dead, and even when she continuously got back up after she was knocked down, he spared no mercy.

_I cannot show such an unsightly scene...in front of the person that I admire..._

The Hyuuga heir panted and struggled to get up once more. Kiba sent a glare at Naruto before gritting his teeth, silently urging Hinata to remember that she can always give up. Both Byakugans were now de-activated.

"I can tell with these eyes that you have carried the destiny known as the Hyuuga Family," started Neji, "You cursed your powerlessness, and blamed yourself."

Neji had by now calmed down some, and was now talking somberly, as if he said the words to himself many many times. "But people cannot change. That is destiny. There's no need to suffer. Let yourself go."

But Hinata only shook her head, still panting. "You're wrong, Neji-niisan. Because I can see...that you are suffering more than me."

Her cousin's frown grew deeper. _Nani?_

"You are the one who is confused and suffering inside from the fate of the head and branch families."

Neji flinched slightly before his white eyes narrowed. He let out a feral growl before charging at the fragile girl, intent on her demise.

"Neji-kun! The match has ended!" Hayate was ignored. _This isn't good,_ he thought, as he ran towards the teen.

In a blur of action and a small amount of airborne dust, Neji was restrained by Hayate, Gai, Kurenai, and Kakashi (though barely, seeing as he had one hand in his pocket and the other holding Neji's right arm).

"Neji, cut it out," said Gai. "You made a passionate promise with me that you will not argue about the Head Family."

Neji only gritted his teeth, ignoring what Gai had just said. "Why did the other jounin come out? Does the Main Family receive special treatment?"

There was a pained gasp as Hinata swayed slightly, the damage on her heart getting to severe. Kurenai let go of Neji and rushed forward.

"Hinata!"

Naruto and Lee sprung off of the railings and hurried towards the injured Hyuuga girl. When they got close enough, both cringed inwardly at the damage Hinata had sustained. Kurenai carefully checked over her injuries, then started to glare at Neji.

"You were aiming to kill from the beginning!"

He smirked. "You should stop glaring at me and use that time more wisely to save her, _sensei_."

A cough brought her attention back to her student. "N-Naru...to-kun..."

He rushed over and knelt down beside her, looking into her eyes and waiting to see what she needed of him.

"I..." Her mouth moved some more, but no sound was coming out. Her eyes were starting to droop and close from loss of blood.

"_Dammit! I can't read lips!"_

Akina tilted her head slightly as she smothered the protective instinct from her wolf demon side, urging it to calm down, even though the only human female that she was 'friendly' with was slipping into a coma.

She took out a shuriken and threw it at the area where the medic-nin were located. They jumped before rushing out onto the scene.

"Sumimasen (Sorry)!"

Hinata was put carefully onto the stretcher before she was carried out.

"_She tried to say: 'Was I...able to change...a little?' "_

Naruto thanked Akina telepathically, sinking into some deep thinking before he was brought out of it be Neji.

"Hey, dropout." Used to being called that, put on a glare and turned his head towards Neji. "Let me warn you about two things. If you're a ninja, stop with the idiotic cheering for a stranger.

And...a dropout will always be a dropout. They cannot change."

The rest of Team Seven watched, interested as to how Naruto will reply to that. It had hit pretty close to home. The glare grew deeper as Neji only smirked at the orange-clad boy. A spike of killer intent was released, and Lee moved to block Naruto just in case he tried anything.

"I understand how you're feeling Naruto-kun, believe me. But you should fight in an official match. A dropout defeating a genius with hard work...wouldn't that match be exciting? But I might be his opponent," he paused, then added, "But I will not hold a grudge if you were to match up with him."

Naruto stared at his Lee for a few more moments before he growled lowly and nodded to show he understood, casting one last look at the archway that Hinata had been rushed through.

Lee turned towards his sensei, grinning and getting into the Good Guy Pose. _That was good, right, Gai-sensei?_ His teeth pinged.

Gai answered by giving him a thumbs up and grinning, blinding Kouseki with the light that had reflected off of his shiny teeth. _Lee, that was very nice!_

("AAAH! MY EYES!") Her attempt to lighten the mood a bit didn't work, and she sighed in defeat, cursing a certain Hyuuga under her breath.

Naruto leaned down and wiped some of Hinata's blood onto his fingers. He clenched his fist and raised it towards Neji, his face set in a death glare rarely used seriously.

"You're going down."

Neji only smirked.

Hayate coughed to get everyone's attention again, and silently, everyone made their way back up onto the catwalks. Another cough activated the screens.

Lee crossed his arms and turned away from the screen, pouting. Gai looked worried. "What is wrong, my cute student?"

"I no longer want to fight next. If the screen has not picked me yet, why should it pick me now?"

"NO! Do not give up hope, Lee-kun!"

The electronic screen beeped again, and as one, everyone turned to look at it.

'Sabaku no Gaara VS. Rock Lee'

"YOSH!" Lee jumped into the air in triumph, pumping his fists. "I knew that if I said that I did not want to fight next, that it would pick my name! It was simple reverse psychology!"

Gai grinned with his student. "An excellent idea, Lee!"

They hugged, gripping each other tightly.

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

They stopped the disturbing scene and Gai pulled Lee down in a small huddle for some last minute advice.

"Watch out for that gourd..."

He was whispering a tad too loudly, and nearly everyone on that side of the arena leaned in to hear this so called 'advice'. What could he possibly tell Lee that would save him from dying a painful death?

"...there's something freaky about it!"

Some twitched in agitation as Lee nodded, jumping down into the arena, almost bursting with excitement.

By the time ten minutes had passed, Akina had to once again check over the cage in which she had trapped her demonic side, to make sure that it would not escape it's restrains and try to take over.

Lee had lost, but had made a valiant effort and had shown what hard work could do, though only seven people in the room truly knew what had just occurred.

A mortal who could use no chakra whatsoever had fought with a jinchuuriki and fought at the same level for most of the fight. That was truly amazing, considering the circumstances.

After Lee had been taken towards the infirmary, leaving a heartbroken Gai, Dosu and Chouji came down to the arena floor, already knowing that they were to fight each other, since they were the last two examinees.

Even though Asuma had tried to bribe his student to win with a BBQ dinner, Chouji lost, due to the fact that the Oto-nin had used the water in his enlarged body to amplify the sound waves, knocking him out.

The ten genin that had won their matches lined up in front of the Hokage once again, awaiting further instruction.

"To those who have made it to the main matches of the Chuunin Exams Third Exam...there are six Konoha-nin, three Suna-nin, and one Oto-nin. I will now begin the explanation for the main matches.

The main match fights will be shown in front of everyone. We wish for all of you to show off your abilities as your country's representative power. Therefore, the main matches will begin in one month, which is the time in which you can conduct the appropriate preparations.

In other words, we are going to announce to the feudal lords and the head ninja of the individual countries that the preliminary matches had ended. And time is needed to gather those people for the main matches.

This is also preparation time for you candidates. This time is used so you can know your energy and yourself better. It is a time to analyze the information that you have gathered during the preliminary matches.

The battles we had were just like real combat situations. It has been done where both parties knew nothing of each other.

But the main matches will not be like that. There are those that have revealed everything to their rivals. To make things fair, work hard and improve yourselves on your own in the next month.

So, I want to let you guys go, but...there is something important we must do before the main matches.

Grab a piece of paper from the box that Anko is holding."

Anko stepped forward, holding a wooden box with a hole. "Just stand still and keep your trap shut. I'll come to you and let you pick the paper out of the box."

She went down the line of genin, letting them pick a small square of paper. Akina realized what she was doing and made sure to get the highest number so that she would be able to save up her energy for the coming invasion.

"Okay, everyone got one!" yelled out Ibiki, "Now, tell me what number you got, starting from the left."

Dosu: Eight.

Naruto: One.

Sasuke: Four.

Akina: Ten.

Temari: Seven.

Kankurou: Five.

Gaara: Three.

Shikamaru: Nine.

Neji: Two.

Shino: Six.

"We will now tell you the match-ups for the tournament!"

"What?!" All the genin except Akina, Gaara, Neji, and Shino looked slightly shocked. "That's what we drew numbers for?!"

Sarutobi ignored them. "Ibiki, show the match-ups."

"Sir."

The large bear of a man stepped forward and showed them the diagram on his clipboard.

Match One: Uzumaki Naruto VS. Hyuuga Neji

Match Two: Sabaku no Gaara VS. Uchiha Sasuke

Match Three: Sabaku no Kankurou VS. Aburame Shino

Match Four: Sabaku no Temari VS. Dosu Kinuta

Match Five: Nara Shikamaru VS. Takamaru Akina

Naruto tensed slightly and glanced sideways at Neji. _"Perfect. I get to kick Neji's ass; and in the first round, too!"_

"_Sabaku no Gaara..."_ was all Sasuke thought in reply.

Shikamaru raised his hand. "I have a question." The Sandaime nodded at him to voice it. "If it's a tournament, then that means that there's only one winner, right? Does that mean that only one person becomes a chuunin?"

"No, that's not how it is. These main matches will have judges, including me, Kazekage-dono, as well as the feudal lords and...head ninja from the other countries who will be potential clients. These ninjas will grade you by watching you in the tournament.

And those who are qualified to be chuunin, even if they lose in the first round, will become chuunin.

It's possible for all of you to become chuunin, or none of you. Winning the matches in the tournament means that you are able to show off your skills more.

That is all. We are adjourned until next month. I wish you all the best of luck."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Down in the arena, Team Seven had gathered, now that the explanation of what the third part of the Chuunin Selection Exams would be was over.

"Okay you guys…since Sasuke is going against Gaara, I'll be training him…"

Naruto immediately scowled. The first thing his sensei had said automatically threw all his hopes of getting trained by the famous ninja out of the window and into the trash. Sasuke spared a glance at the ramen-loving ninja before looking back at their sensei.

"The dobe needs a sensei, too." _Naruto is another person that I want to test myself against…he needs to get stronger as well…and Akina…_

Kakashi seemed to sense the boy's resentment, and smiled. "Don't worry, I found someone better than me to train you, Naruto…his name is Ebisu, and he specializes in training young ninja."

At the sound of the tokubetsu jounin's name, Naruto had cringed. Through the mind seal, he accidentally sent images of his last meeting with the shinobi into the minds of his teammates. Sasuke merely raised an eyebrow, and Akina shook her head slightly. Naruto growled and pointed an accusing finger at Kakashi, who looked amused at the kids' expressions.

"Why would you give me a trainer that is weaker than me?! That guy's a total closet pervert!"

Kakashi blinked once. "Closet pervert…?"

The image of Naruto in his Sexy no jutsu form appeared in their minds, and Sasuke had to turn his head away to hide the tiny blush that had appeared on his face. Akina's mouth twitched into a slight frown, and she reached out to his cheek and pinched it, pulling slightly.

"Naruto…" she said warningly. He finally realized what he was doing and stopped, scratching the back of his neck, chuckling a little.

"Ahaha…sorry." She let go of his face, leaving a small red mark where she had squeezed it. Sasuke looked back, having gotten over his slight embarrassment.

"Out of the three of you, Naruto, you need the most work on your fundamentals and chakra control."

Akina scanned over the images she had gotten from Naruto, and recognized the look on Ebisu's face. Her hands twitched into certain positions.

_Ebisu is like the villagers._

With that, Akina turned around and started walking out of the arena with Kouseki. The boys sent questioning looks at her, and she just shook her head slightly.

"I will train on my own."

Both females disappeared, and the rest of Team Seven to walk out of the Tower, already used to the way Akina liked to disappear to be by herself every once in a while.

Naruto scowled and looked, disappointed at the ground. "Fine…but it doesn't mean I'll like it…"

Once they reached outside, they found a large tiger waiting for them as their escort. It growled lowly before turning around and facing the forest, ready to guide them safely through his domain.

Kakashi stopped walking. "Sasuke, pack enough clothes for a week of training and meet me at the Eastern gate."

He nodded a good-bye and disappeared in a swirl of leaves, leaving the boys to walk the whole ten miles out of the Forest of Death.

"_Well at least Akina left us with someone to keep us company, right Sasuke-teme?"_

"_Hn."_

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Akina arrived inside Enkou-sensei's classroom, dressed in her Anbu uniform and her trainee mask. Kyou was sitting atop her head, and both greeted Kenshiki with a nod. Together they walked to the front of the classroom, ready to receive their assignment from the strict Anbu agent.

The Bird-masked ninja grunted and waved them off, as if he didn't even want to see them. They paid no heed to it, already used to his behavior and not at all deterred by it.

"You guys are on patrol duty under the command of another Anbu."

They saluted, about-faced, and walked out of the classroom. Once the door closed, Kenshiki sighed and scratched his brown hair.

"And so begins the most boring assignment ever…"

They stopped before a cloud of ninja smoke appeared in front of them. A cat-masked Anbu with long purple hair was crouched in front of them. She stood up, easily towering over the short girl. Uzuki Yugao tilted her head slightly at the small Anbu, vaguely reminded of a certain short Anbu from 5 years ago, before he became a nuke-nin.

She nodded at the two. "Follow me. I'm the one in charge of you."

Kyou stared at the cat mask for a moment before mewing at her. The two trainees bowed once at their senpai, and followed her through the maze of hallways. She stopped at one of the many hidden equipment rooms and picked up swords and a few mobile earphones so that they could speak to each other over large distances.

She wordlessly gave them what they needed. "Go to the Eastern Gate's Anbu entrance." The need to stay hidden didn't have to be ordered. With so many foreigners in town, they had to be careful not to show any suspicious behavior.

Akina slipped the katana into position on her back and put the microphone into her left ear. She could still feel Kenshiki's anguish over doing such a boring mission. He sighed in defeat before disappearing with Konoha Shunshin. Kyou took her place on the Takamaru's head.

_Shunshin no jutsu._

The small brunette appeared behind her Anbu friend in a puff of smoke, now standing in one of several hidden gates known only to the Anbu Black Ops ninja. She cut off her mind seal's connection to the boys so that Sasuke wouldn't be able to sense her through it. After all, he was to meet Kakashi here.

The purple haired Anbu nodded at them and silently pointed to the areas that each of them would watch over for the next six mind-numbing hours.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Naruto and Ebisu stood stock-still, staring blankly at each other. They were standing in front of the entrance to one of the local hot springs, and Naruto was suspicious. After all, Ebisu was a closet pervert.

Ebisu coughed slightly into his hand. "Why won't you go in?"

Naruto's right eye twitched and the tokubetsu jounin slapped a hand over his mouth before the boy could say anything.

"Insolent brat!" he hissed into his ear, pulling them both into a nearby alley, "I know what you're thinking of! Do not speak of that! I will give you anything! Ramen…money…anything!"

Naruto narrowed his cerulean eyes a little before wiping all emotion from his face. He ran the words 'I will give you anything!' through his head. _The possibilities…!_

Ebisu shifted uncomfortably at Naruto's expressionless face, instantly starting to regret his words. _What is that boy thinking of…?_

"All right Ebisu…I'll take you up on that offer after today's training…"

With that, the jinchuuriki allowed the jounin to lead him into the men's hot springs. They stopped by the edge of one of the larger bodies of water.

"Now…I've been told by Kakashi that you are lagging behind your teammates in chakra control, so today we're going to be working on that…by walking on water."

A sudden image of Zabuza walking on water floated into his mind, and he nodded a bit, grinning now that he was going to learn such a cool trick.

"The method of walking on water is similar to walking up trees. But, instead of coating your feet with a certain amount of chakra, you must continuously expel chakra from your feet, making sure to count in other variables such as the depth of the water and your weight."

Ebisu put his hands in the ram seal, and the blue chakra circled around his feet for a bit before he walked out into the middle of the hot spring. Naruto's eyes stayed glued to his feet, and the water beneath them.

He formed the ram seal, sending the same amount of chakra he used to climb trees into his feet, before nodding firmly to himself and putting one foot onto the water.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Six hours later, Akina, Kenshiki, and Kyoukoumune were let go by Yugao. After he was sure she was gone (she had mysteriously disappeared), Kenshiki let out a relieved sigh and stretched his aching muscles, which were sore from staying in certain positions for long periods of time.

"Aaaah…! That's better. Hey, Gaia…," he called Akina's codename, as they disappeared and reappeared inside the Anbu Training Center, "What else do you think they'll have us trainees do? I'm getting tired of patrol duty…"

Akina remained silent, simply shrugging in response as they entered Enkou's classroom, informing him that they have finished their mission. The hawk-masked Anbu grumbled under his mask for a bit before nodding at them.

"You are dismissed. Report back at the usual time. 55—stay here."

Kenshiki saluted at their sensei, and before he exited the classroom, Akina could have sworn she sensed some amusement in his aura at the fact that she had to do something else. She stood at attention, awaiting orders, just how Enkou liked his students—quiet and obedient.

"Hokage-sama wants you in his office."

"Hai."

She saluted again before disappearing in a puff of smoke. In Sarutobi's office (which was empty of towering stacks of paperwork, for once), she bowed to the old Hokage, who offered her a brief smile.

"How was patrol duty, Akina-chan?"

She let the little puma cub answer the question. The kitten sighed, itching to be released back to the mountains to rejoin her family. Working with the Guardian was fun, sure, but after six hours of watching nothing happen, any normal child, human or beast, would get bored.

Sarutobi chuckled, then eased into a stern face, getting down to business.

"Akina-chan. I trust that you have heard of the rumors concerning the Shishou no Ryuuki?"

She nodded once, her face giving no reaction, though even if she did, he wouldn't have seen it behind her Anbu Trainee mask.

"I have a mission for her." He rummaged through his desk drawers, taking out a small scroll with black borderlines. He handed it to Akina. Before opening it, the girl tilted her head at her superior after being told what color it was. Scrolls with this color on them were S-Class missions, reserved only for Anbu and Kages. Akina was only a trainee.

"Read it," was the only explanation she got. She nodded, breaking the seal and unrolling it. The imprints that the ink made were scanned over, and she understood what he wanted. The scroll was rolled back together and tucked into her ninja pouch before she saluted, accepting the mission.

The Sandaime Hokage let out a relieved sigh, now that part of his plan was initiated. Now, it was all up to fate.

"Arigatou."

The young girl heard how stressed he was and nodded, taking off her mask while keeping her eyes closed. She gave him a brief little smile before the porcelain mask was replaced, and she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sarutobi blinked at the small (and rare) sign of affection she gave him, and then chuckled under his breath.

"So she _does_ care…"

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

After Akina dropped off the tired kitten, she had changed back into her regular clothes and dropped off a note the house that the Team Seven genin shared, telling whoever read it that she's 'around'. And just to make sure that no one starved or anything, she left some money on the counter.

She started strolling through the Konoha streets, ignoring any hateful or fearful auras as the hidden village's citizens hurried home from work. It was a little past sunset now.

The S-Class mission scroll was safe inside her ninja pouch, positioned on her waist, so that no one could take a peak. This mission that he was entrusting to 'Ryuuki' was important for the future of Konoha, and, to tell the truth, Akina felt honored that he would give her such an assignment.

She understood why he said that it was for the Shishou no Ryuuki. This 'rogue Anbu' can be anywhere because no one knows which country he or she was loyal to. This meant that he or she had more freedom than any of Konoha's ninja.

Because of the attack of the Sound village that was just over the horizon, Sarutobi probably felt that he needed to plan for the future.

Perverted chuckling reached her sensitive ears, as well as a loud splash, followed by a yell of frustration. She would recognize that voice anywhere. Akina double-checked that her chakra signature and aura were hidden before jumping up into the trees, headings towards the source of the noise.

She found Naruto fighting with his own Kage Bunshin…on top of a moving river. On the shore, sitting on a chair under an umbrella, was none other than the Toad Sannin, Jiraiya. The white-haired shinobi had noticed her there right away, and kept an eye on what she was doing.

The real Naruto finally defeated his clones, panting slightly. It looked like he had been doing this for a long time. Akina decided that now would be a good as time as any to reconnect to her teammates, since she had been blocking their link to her mind up until now. Naruto's blond head snapped up towards the tree she was sitting him, causing Jiraiya to raise an eyebrow at how he was able to sense the girl.

"Akina-chan?" She jumped out of the tree, landing a few feet away from Jiraiya. Naruto grinned and walked off of the water.

"What are you doing here?"

"I need to tell you something…" at this point she turned towards the legendary shinobi and bowed once. "Good evening, Jiraiya-sama."

The toad summoner grinned. "Ha! There we go! Finally, someone shows me the respect I deserve!" He looked pointedly at Naruto, who grinned at Jiraiya and shook his head at his request for another nickname.

"Sorry, no can do ero-sennin!"

"Don't call me ero-sennin! It's _gama_-sennin! I summon toads!" he snapped, glaring irritably at the fox container. The boy closed his eyes, smiling and shrugging, before turning back towards his female teammate.

"So…what'd you have to tell me?"

"I might be disappearing from time to time, but I'll leave a note on our kitchen table telling you how long I'll be gone."

Naruto opened his eyes and frowned for a bit before nodding. "Fine fine…"

Jiraiya butted in at this point, grinning at them both. " '_Our_ kitchen table'?"

The jinchuuriki picked up on what Jiraiya was implying and scowled slightly at the perverted Sannin. "ERO-SENNIN! Kakashi-sensei just made our team live in the same house as a 'teamwork exercise' ," he made air quotes with his fingers as he said "teamwork exercise", "and Akina-chan is the one in charge of cooking breakfast."

"Oh? So your sensei is the brat, huh?"

Naruto immediately started snickering at the way Jiraiya referred to their lazy sensei. Akina took the chance to bow once more to Jiraiya before leaving the two. She mentally checked over where each of her teammates were, sensing that Sasuke was in the mountain range. There was some stress and determination leaking through the seal, so she assumed that Kakashi had already put him to work, training.

_And now…I must leave the village._

She arrived home and sealed her supplies into a scroll. She used her air manipulation to write a note downstairs on a piece of paper, stating that she would be gone for a week, putting it on the kitchen table like she said she would.

Akina took out the scroll that contained her Anbu equipment, tucking it into her ninja pouch on top of her mission scroll before using Shunshin no jutsu to reappear in the cave where Konoha's Council of Beasts met. Almost immediately, she was greeted by the extremely formal Hiroki, Hiromi's brother.

("Good evening, young hatchling. What brings you here to the Cave?")

The small brunette bowed politely to the hawk. Hiroki was like Aburame Shino. If you are polite and abide by the rules, then you'll get along fine.

"I must leave the village for about a week. I need a small companion from the Hebi clan, preferably one that can use poison."

He blinked. ("There has been much talk of the Chuunin Exams. You get one month to prepare, correct?")

"Hai."

Hiroki did not pry into their Guardian's business, flying off to the snake's clan head's favorite tree in the Forest of Death. There was a loud yawn from one of the bushes, out from which Kouseki emerged, still slightly groggy from her nap.

("Where the hell are you going for a week?")

Akina reactivated the connection between their minds, making sure to cut herself off from Naruto and Sasuke.

"_Hokage-sama has a mission for Ryuuki. It's an S-Class mission."_

The great wolf pondered on this for a while before sighing. (_"Just watch out for the hebi-teme and the gaki's ass of an aniki.")_

"_Hai."_

Hiroki screeched, informing the two demons in disguise that he was back. Both could smell a small snake riding on his back. It was male. The brown hawk gently descended, keeping in mind that the creature on his feathered back was not used to flying. He landed on top of Kouseki's head, wishing to keep at least a few feet in the air at all times. A small, forest green head peaked over the bird's head, staring at Akina for a minute.

("You're sssssstill a little hatching…and yet you're already fighting like an adult.") he nodded in satisfaction at the one he was to accompany for the next week. Kouseki squinted at the snake before pouting a little.

("Oi, hebi, what color are you?")

The snake let out a series of high and low pitched hissing, the snake's form of laughing. ("That'ssss right. You dogsss are color-blind…") he paused to let the insult sink in before continuing when he saw that Kouseki didn't give a damn, ("I'm dark green, like the foressstssss.")

Kouseki grinned. ("Just checking. You hebi tend to be blindingly bright when you're poisonous.") The snake laughed again at the not so hidden insult before climbing onto Akina's outstretched arm, moving upwards to coil around her neck. She disappeared for a minute before coming back into the clearing, fully clothed in her Anbu uniform, with the dragon mask and black cloak on.

Akina bowed to Hiroki, resting her hand on Kouseki's back for a few seconds before took off at a sprint deeper into the forest, where eventually she reached the Konoha borders and crossed it, sneaking around the guards.

She kept up the pace for a while, making a connection with the mind of the snake curled around her neck.

_("Where are we headed? All Hebi-sssssama ssssaid wasss that you had to leave our territory for a week."_)

Akina stayed silent for a moment, assessing the snake's aura to see if he was trustworthy enough to keep secrets. The snake stayed quiet, letting the demon do what she wanted. He had nothing to hide.

"_I am the Shishou no Ryuuki. My long-term mission is to work on her reputation and keep it high in preparation for our village's future."_

The snake let out laugh inside her mind. (_"You _do_ realize that no one knowsss if Ryuuki is a chick or not, right?"_)

_No, I didn't…I'm not that connected to the rumor mill yet…_ Akina kept her thoughts to herself, sensing that it was more of a rhetorical question than anything.

For some odd reason she felt that Zabuza, who was one of the only possible two who could spread the rumor, didn't tell anyone that she was female for kicks. He seemed like that kind of person. Either way she appreciated it. It would help if no one knew she was only a little girl.

Silence reigned for one more hour, and night started to descend upon the lands, enveloping everything in a dark blanket. Fortunately for Akina (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it), she was blind, and the inkiness didn't affect her all. Also, the snake currently riding on her person was neither diurnal nor nocturnal, meaning that it slept whenever it felt like it.

When Akina felt that they were at a good enough distance away from the hidden village, she stopped in the branch of a tree, sitting down. She allowed the snake to slither off of her body, to go hunt, while she took out the bingo book that was given to all Anbu trainees, jounin, Anbu, and the like. Chuunin were allowed to keep one, but rarely ever paid attention to it for some strange reason.

She flipped through the book, going at a quick pace so that their faces would be at the top of her memory. Once the book was looked through once, Akina went ahead and spread out her senses to their limits, taking in everything that was happening in a 40 mile radius.

Her traveling companion was currently staking out a mouse that was getting a drink. A couple dozen miles away, a group of traveling merchants was setting up camp for the night. Her thoughts traveled the list that was included inside her S-Class mission scroll. After the instructions, Sarutobi had listed all of the underworld bosses and their organizations, along with any information that she would need.

Up at the top of the list was the name: Akatsuki.

_Hmm. So that's where his aniki went…_ She mentally scanned over the list again, picking one that seemed to have a big enough reputation. If she wanted to make a name for Ryuuki, she felt like she had to start off with a bang. She automatically crossed Akatsuki off of her mental list. This went on for a few seconds before she decided.

_Setting Sun. A group that's famous for its slave-trading and rank in the black market for illegal items…it seems that they've had some connections with Gatou. I should go check out his old headquarters for more information…_ The snake came back, his belly full of mouse. He made his way back up to Akina's neck, resting after his large meal.

"_We're heading for Nami. Do you mind the cold?"_

(_"Nah."_) He seemed much more content now. Akina put away the bingo book, feeling that she was rested enough. Now that her demon blood was becoming more and more active, she could go longer without meals and rest.

Along the way, she passed by a couple middle-ranking nuke-nin.

"—go back to HQ and report this…someone got to the prize before us…"

She filed away their scents into her mind, saving this information for later. It might be useful. Around five hours later, after crossing the small expanse of water, Akina announced to her 'passenger' that they had arrived inside the country borders. The snake woke up, having taken a nap at the smooth pace she had set, and nodded silently, opening his orange eyes to observe their surroundings as they went deeper into the country.

Akina arrived at the bridge and shunshined across it, reappearing deep inside the forest near the clearing she had trained in a couple months before. She blurred towards the honeycomb shaped base, finding that it was still intact and relatively untouched. It was now lifeless.

She jumped and landed vertically on the outside of a fourth floor window, using her wind manipulation to open it from the inside. The window shut itself silently, and Akina scanned the entire building, almost immediately finding Gatou's old office at the heart, naturally. She went inside, easily avoiding any detection devices set up. _I'm surprised that no one has come and raided the place._

She waved her hand, opening all the drawers and cabinets. Wind blew gently throughout the room, aiding Akina in reading and sifting through the documents. The snake raised his head and looked at one of the papers in view.

(_"Oi, look at that. That's a ssssssshit load of casssssh, right there."_) The paper he was referring to flew to Akina's hand, and she quickly gathered up all similar documents. She knew what she could do with them.

She spent the next hour inside the room, going through all of his papers. Akina nodded in satisfaction once she was done, feeling she had more than enough information concerning all the organizations that Gatou had associated himself with. She sealed all of the papers she could use in one of her spare scrolls before exiting.

Akina erased any traces of her being here, leaving the building. She would burn it down when she felt it was the right time. She backtracked, going back to the place where she found those nuke-nin. She dropped onto ground, tilting her head this way and that to sort out their individual scents from others that had gone this way. _Found them._

Akina took off at a quick pace, wanting to at least find the general area that they were hiding in. If she found their headquarters, that'd be even better. The snake wrapped around her neck shook off the dew that had gathered on his scales. Akina put a hand on his cold body, bringing up his temperature to a suitable height.

(_"Arigatou…"_)

Soon they arrived in a reclusive town, located near the edge of Ka no kuni, keeping well out of its boundaries. Their scents have been residing here, and there were no trails leading out of the city. There were still a few hours left before sunrise.

A nearby mouse caught Akina's attention, and he agreed to do her bidding when she asked if he could sneak into one of the bars (which were still open, believe it or not) to get information.

(_"These in between periodsssss are pretty boring…when doesss the killing sssssstart?"_)

Akina sighed inwardly. _Are all lethal animals bloodthirsty? "Later; have patience."_

The mouse came back and recited as much gossip as he could remember, and Akina thanked him and left. The nuke-nin were leaving. She kept five miles between them both at all times.

(_"We'll be killing ssssssoon, right…?"_) asked the snake, hopeful for some violence.

Akina didn't bother to answer.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

A day later, Akina found herself a couple miles away from one of the Setting Sun's four bases. It was located in a strategic position with a mountain range guarding three of its sides. This one was also known as the base where their weapons were held.

It was called the Flare base, for obvious reasons.

There were no slaves or prisoners here because of the risk of them escaping and using their own weapons against them. That meant that she didn't have to worry about killing innocents.

(_"Killing…now?"_)

"_Hai."_

She strengthened her connection to the elements around her, and found something quite interesting inside the mountains almost completely surrounding the base. _Hmm. _

There were certain elements inside the rock that she could use to her advantage. She inwardly smirked as she moved them towards the middle of the base, underground.

Akina dropped to the ground from the tree she was hidden in, putting her hands to the earth and gaining control over the earth as well as tapping into her natural fire attributes. Underneath the base, she gathered the elements and set it on fire using her flames.

The reaction was almost instantaneous.

In a colossal explosion, the base self-destructed on itself, creating a large mushroom cloud of flaming gases. Akina quickly manipulated the fire in the air to take the shape of a dragon, making it come crashing back down on the base so that the fires didn't spread. A full minute later, the fire died out, revealing a large scorched crater where the base had been, full of soot.

The snake perched on her shoulders recovered from his initial shock at seeing such destruction before hissing a little. (_"You need a calling card, so that everyone will know that it wassssss you."_)

Akina pondered on this for a few seconds before nodding to herself. She gathered up all the soot into the middle of the crater, molding it into a distinct shape and hardening it. Her companion nodded, now satisfied.

Sitting in the middle of the gigantic hole was a black dragon the size of a horse that looked like it had been delicately carved from black volcanic rock. In the middle of its forehead was a shape that was currently located on her mask—an outline of a crescent moon.

Her attention went to something else in the crater however. For one thing, it had apparently survived the initial explosion, as well as the inferno that occurred afterwards. It was an old looking sword that looked like it was just about to crumble into dust.

That wasn't the thing that had attracted her attention, though. It was the fact that it was emitting a curious aura.

She walked over and bent down to pick it up, but immediately let go when it sent a jolt of electricity through her body. The snake hissed, having been shocked as well. Akina carefully picked up the snake and put him on the ground before bending down and taking the handle of the sword in both of her hands.

The same course of lightning came, but this time she was ready for it. Akina absorbed the energy of the electricity, shunting any that she couldn't handle into the ground. After a few seconds, the lightning doubled in power for another couple seconds before dissipating. She felt the sword eat up a little of her chakra before its aura disappeared, going dormant.

The snake hissed at the sword as Akina picked it up by its white handle, quickly locating its matching sheath, which had a strange symbol painted on the side. She slipped it into place under the strap that held her ninja pouch around her waist, by her left hip.

_I'll ask Kouseki about it later._

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

The snake and girl watched (both in their own ways) as the last prisoner headed home after years of captivity in the second base that Akina had targeted, the Blaze.

The mouse that she had sent inside the bar had given her the location of the Setting Sun's other bases, or at least a vague idea of where they are. This second one was located on the northern edge of the Fire country. The other bases were in the south, west, and finally, the east, which she had already demolished.

Akina had come in and killed all members of the Setting Sun, letting one of the prisoners catch a glimpse of her mask (but not her body, just to be safe), before moving out of the base and creating a dragon made out of earth to manipulate into free everyone.

This western style dragon also had the trademark crescent moon on its forehead. The prisoner that had seen Ryuuki's mask recognized the symbol and told them that it was the same as the one on the mask of their savior. This had calmed the others down (it wasn't exactly common to see a dragon made of earth walking around like it was alive).

One of the ladies in the group had stared at the dragon for some time before asking "Are you one of Shishou no Ryuuki's dragons?"

Akina, who had been a quarter of a mile away and using her wind manipulation to hear everything they said, was not too surprised by this question.

Slave was a general term. This young lady just so happened to be a sex slave, who belonged to the commander of the base, no doubt. She must have heard rumors. So, seeing a benefit in answering, the young kunoichi made the dragon nod.

And now, ten minutes later, no humans were within a thirty mile radius of the base (Akina had transported all the prisoners on a dragon made of wind closer to the nearest town).

(_"Desssstroy the damned thing already!"_)

Since she had started meditating, she could manipulate the elements much better, and had the energy to destroy this base. She put her hands in the ram seal, channeling some chakra into the ground. It rumbled slightly before the earth starting shifting.

The jaws of a dragon appeared around the base, completely surrounding it. In one swift motion, it closed its mouth with an audible _crunch_, before sinking back into the earth, bringing the remains of the base with it.

Any important items were safely sealed away inside the scroll containing Gatou's papers. In the middle of the clearing where the base _used_ to be located, a snarling statue of a dragon made out of the hardest stone she could find in the area was made, the customary crescent on its forehead.

Akina panted slightly and rubbed at the small headache that had formed. Earth was the hardest element for her to manipulate, since she was more attributed to air. For the bigger things, like what she just did, she needed to use chakra.

The snake coiled around her neck hissed in pleasure. (_"That'sss two bassssesssss in lesssss than 24 hourssss! What'sssss next?"_)

"_Back to Nami—I need to do something."_

She started running towards Nami at a slower pace than usual (though she was basically invisible to most shinobi, at the speed she was going—speed had always been one of her good areas, because of her smaller body), and reaching Nami about seven hours later.

Akina hid herself in the forest near the beginning of the bridge leading to the island country, far away from the road. She took out the scroll and summoned the papers she found in Gatou's old headquarters, or more specifically, all the deeds to their lands as well as a scroll containing an eight of his valuables, which was still worth a pretty penny.

If the snake had eyebrows, he would have raised them; questioning just what the hell she was going to do with all that money.

She sealed the deeds into the scroll and moved to the edge of the water, using the thick mist as cover. The scroll was dropped into the water, where it was picked up by a dragon made out of water, about twice as big as Kouseki was.

The dragon held the scroll carefully in its jaws, which were lined with jagged ice shaped like teeth. The claws had the same ice-like quality, and the snake noticed with amusement that a crescent moon made out of ice was in the middle of its forehead.

As the mist started moving around, the kunoichi quickly moved back into the forest, using long-ranged elemental manipulation to deliver the scroll, as well as keeping it dry.

Back in the Wave village, Tazuna was walking through the streets, grinning as he was greeted energetically by the people that used to be so unhappy just a few months ago. The streets were already free of garbage, and the houses were all in the process of being rebuilt.

A scream echoed, attracting his attention. A young man came running towards Tazuna, looking panicked.

"Tazuna! Tazuna! There's a water dragon by the pier! What do we do?!"

The old man gritted his teeth, inwardly thinking that he was getting too old for this kind of stuff. "Did it do any damage?"

The other man frowned and scratched the side of his head. "Ah, no. It's just floating there. We spotted something in its mouth, though…"

This sounded familiar to Tazuna for some strange reason. _Dragon…dragon…dragon…hmm…oh._ He slapped his hand on his forehead, groaning slightly. The villager who had told him the news blinked and sweat dropped.

"Tazuna…?"

Tazuna sighed. "It's not an attack. Remember that masked ninja that I told you about? The Shishou no Ryuuki? Yeah…the dragon is probably his."

The man stared blankly at him for a second before the statement actually sunk in, causing him to gape.

"KAMI-SAMA! THE SHISHOU NO RYUUKI IS HERE?!"

There were some gasps, and all activity on the street stopped. The other villagers were staring at them. The bridge builder sighed wearily before nodding. "Yeah."

As one, everyone headed over to the pier, where, just like the man had said, a water dragon was waiting, right in the middle.

Inari was there as well, and was staring and gaping at it, awed by the "spirit". It was an eastern style dragon, and looked much like the Suiryuudan no jutsu (Water Dragon Blast technique), except the water that this one was made of was not constantly moving. It was still, creating a few small rainbows as the sun shone through its body.

The dragon seemed to have been waiting for Tazuna, because when he arrived it looked at him and headed in his direction. As it got closer, the people crowding around the pier could see the individual scales and details of this dragon.

Inari was ecstatic that he was in the front row, next to Tazuna, who had been let through the crowd.

Eventually it was a few feet in front of Tazuna, and he stared wide-eyed at the dragon. Up close, it looked a little intimidating, yet beautiful, what with the effect the sun was having on its body. It leaned over until its snout was in front of Tazuna, and he got the message, holding out his hands to accept the scroll that was dropped from its icy jaws.

The dragon lifted its head back up, not leaving just yet. While Tazuna studied the scroll he had been given, Inari had stepped up and reached out with his hand, as if to pet it. Many miles away, in the forest, Akina was a little amused at his reverent expression.

It lowered its watery body, allowing Inari to put a hand on its snout. Inari scrunched up his face slightly when his hand felt cooler, like it was underwater, so he took his hand back. He blinked as he realized that his hand wasn't wet.

"What am I supposed to do with this?!"

The boy looked back at his grandfather, who was staring frustratingly at the scroll. He grinned slyly as he realized that he knew something that the elder did not.

"That's a summoning scroll. You have to put blood and chakra on the writing to summon whatever's inside, ojii-san! How could you not know this?!"

Tazuna scowled lightly at the kid. "Well, I'm not the one that's been obsessed with being a ninja!"

It was true. Since Team Seven had left, Inari had thrown himself into learning how to be just like them.

Inari snatched the scroll from the old man's hands, setting it down and opening it to reveal a seal. He hesitated a little before biting his thumb and wiping the blood across the seal. Nothing happened, and Inari acquired a disappointed face.

There was just one problem with him being a ninja…he didn't know how to use chakra. Akina seemed to know this, because she made the dragon move forward again, putting its paw on top of Inari's hand.

"Wha…?"

A small bit of Akina's chakra made its way through the dragon and into Inari's hand. His eyes widened at the feeling of chakra flowing through his veins. He was frozen for a few moments in sheer wonder before he felt a slight pressure on his hand. The dragon wanted him to finish the job.

"Oh…sorry."

The chakra was forced into the scroll, and in a puff of smoke, a small stack of papers, as well as a large amount of gold bars and other expensive trinkets appeared on top of the unrolled scroll.

Finished with the job, the dragon took its claws off of Inari's hand and started moving away, back into the water. The ice crescent shined in the sunlight, reminding them once again just who was helping them.

It wasn't the dragon. It was the Shishou no Ryuuki.

"Matte!"

It stopped, turning its head back to look questionably at Tazuna. It was halfway out of the pier already.

"Tell your master…arigatou, for everything."

It nodded before descending into the water.

Back in the forest, Akina let out a silent sigh as she released control over the water. _Your welcome, Tazuna…_

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Akina returned to Konoha after a long week of assassinations, rescuing innocents, and the like. She passed by the guard to the forest, like before, and used Shunshin no jutsu to get to the Council's Cave after she was a good distance away from everyone.

Kouseki was the first to greet her, wearing a face-splitting grin. ("OI! AKINA-CHAN! We all heard about what you did! That's a nice touch, you know, the dragon statues.")

The snake slithered off of Akina, now tired after traveling with her. Hiroki was there again to bring him back to his home in Area 44. Before he got on the hawk, he looked back at Akina.

(_"My name…my name is Kuroi."_)

The wolf watched as the two left, then turned back to Akina to find that she had already changed back into her regular clothing, with everything put away. She nodded before howling for a messenger bird. Another brown hawk came swooping into the cave, screeching happily.

("AKI-CHAAAAAN!") You can pretty much guess who it was.

Hiromi spiraled towards the girl, barely controlling her descent in her haste. She managed to stop in time and allowed herself to circle around the girl's head in glee. Kouseki grumbled at the hyper activeness of the bird before barking to get her attention.

("Yeah…?")

Kouseki grunted, padding towards the exit with Akina and Hiromi in tow. ("Get this message to everyone that knows Akina is Ryuuki: DO NOT TALK ABOUT OR MENTION RYUUKI'S TRUE IDENTITY.")

The bird baffled the wolf by actually doing a salute in midair before darting off into the skies as they all exited the cave. The older demon noticed that her itoko needed some rest, so she lead them both home.

She laughed loudly once they turned the corner onto their street, hearing Sasuke and Naruto yelling at each other…again. On the other hand, Akina was a little pleased to hear the familiar arguing after a week of being gone.

"We're NOT having ramen for dinner again!"

"Why not?! It's the most delicious thing in the world!"

"We've had it for dinner for the past five days! Give it a rest already!"

"MAKE ME!"

All activity in the house halted as Akina unlocked the door with her keys and went inside, taking off her shoes.

Naruto's blond head popped around the corner, peaking into the hallway to find Akina in front of the door, looking dirty and tired. Sasuke shoved Naruto's head lower so that he could take a look at her from the kitchen, too. The boys got out of the kitchen.

Naruto ran towards Akina and hugged her tightly, letting go quickly since he knew how she felt about physical contact like that. He looked over her closely, now that he was right in front of her, remembering something.

"Neh…either you kept us closed off from your mind to surprise us with your visit or you were too tired to remember to reconnect to us. I'm guessing the second."

Kouseki nudged Akina's head from behind, easily reaching it, since she was about the size of a small horse. ("She's tired. Try not to wear her out with your jabbering, okay baka-chan?")

He pouted at the request and nickname before nodding grudgingly. Blue eyes looked at the girl before he brightened up, smiling. "Why don't we go out to eat?"

Sasuke grunted at this point. "She needs to shower first, dobe."

The other boy scowled. "I know! I was just making a suggestion! Weren't you the one who was complaining about not eating my beloved ramen?"

The Uchiha resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Yeah, but when we go out you'll probably make us go to Ichiraku for…what was it? _Ramen_."

Akina left the boys to their bantering in favor of getting the smell of dirt and sweat off of her body. Kouseki followed, after snatching her ninja pouch off of her waist. The wolf went right to the girl's dark green colored room while Akina showered.

(_"So…the Setting Sun, eh? You sure know how to get the Elemental Country's attention. They have connections with other groups in every country. Make sure to get some information when you attack the Inferno base."_)

"_Hai. I found a sword in their armory…I want to show you it when the others aren't around."_

Kouseki dropped the ninja pouch onto the black colored bed and attempted to open the zipper with her mouth, having no hands in this form. She let out a victorious bark when she managed to hook the zipper onto one of her smaller teeth. _Score!_

She put a heavy paw on the pouch and pulled the zipper, satisfied to hear the_ zippp_ as it opened.

"Kouseki-chan? What are you doing?" Naruto was staring from the hallway. She had forgotten that she left the door open in her haste to get inside the pouch.

("I wanted to see if she brought me anything!") _Buahaha. That's the perfect excuse._

Naruto closed his eyes and tilted his head, reminding Kouseki yet again how much he acted like the fox sealed inside of him. "I don't think Akina-chan would like it if you went through her stuff."

Kouseki scoffed. ("She won't mind if _I_ do it, though. I practically raised her…not that she needed someone to, of course.")

He grinned before he noticed that Akina was standing behind him, all clean with her hair already drying out. "Err…hi Akina-chan! I was just…er…leaving."

He made his escape and got himself ready to go out to eat. Sasuke saw the dreamy look on his face, immediately saying "No ramen."

Akina took her ninja pouch out from underneath Kouseki's paw and strapped it back onto her waist. Kouseki pouted.

"Later."

She walked downstairs, nodding towards her teammates as they exited the house and started walking into the main part of the village, since their house was located in a less crowded area. Naruto put his hands on the back of his head as he walked backwards, looking at his teammates.

"_What do you guys want to eat? Since _someone_ won't let me have my ramen…"_ he pouted at Sasuke, who just raised an eyebrow, as if to say 'Did you expect me to eat ramen with every meal like you?'

"_Something spicy…"_ suggested Akina. Kouseki had mentioned in a passing comment to her that dragons tended to have a liking for spicy foods. She must have inherited it from her mother.

"_Nothing sweet."_

"_And Kouseki would probably want meat…gah! Let's just get sushi. That way, Akina-chan can dump wasabi and shichimi on her food and we can let Sasuke-teme avoid sugary stuff like the plague."_ Naruto grinned and led the way to one of the popular, yet affordable sushi restaurants (he made sure that it was one of the few that actually let him eat there).

In the back corner of the restaurant was Kakashi, sitting with a few other jounin, including the senseis and Anko.

Sasuke and Akina forcibly dragged their more hyperactive team mate down into his seat, but they both had no doubt in their minds that the silver haired jounin had noticed them anyways.

They quietly ordered their dinner, and being the ninjas they were, couldn't help but overhear the other group's conversation, since Akina's soft talking had forced their sense of hearing to heighten.

"--Ryuuki striked the Flare base a while ago, along with that one other base of theirs. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't have so much trust in the guy who told me. Both of the bases just disappeared practically overnight..." mumbled Genma, as he chewed on his senbon.

There were a couple worried murmurs from the other shinobi. Kakashi turned the page of his Icha Icha Paradise book, earning him glares from Kurenai and Anko.

The waiter who served them came over and carefully placed their food on their table. Naruto immediately bit into his sushi, while Akina grabbed for the wasabi, putting some on her food. Both boys now took the time to watch as she ate the food with no problem at all with what should have made her breath fire from the heat.

"How do you do that?!"

The girl tilted her head, continuing to eat. She shrugged, not bothering to answer the question. She had gained some looks from the surrounding people, but after a couple quick death glares from the boys, they returned to their meals, minding their own business.

After a few minutes of eating, Sasuke finished and noticed the low-volume conversation that their superiors were having. Naruto side-glanced, but otherwise kept on eating, giving them an excuse to stay.

"--shouldn't he be caught and questioned? Shishou no Ryuuki is a vigilante that is doing things with no limitations like rules. What if he turns on us next?"

"I don't think that'll be a problem, Kurenai. Have you noticed what this guy has been doing? He's getting rid of all those mafias and illegal trading. If anything, he'll help us..." said Kakashi, finally joining the conversation.

Gai grinned reassuringly at the red-eyed rookie jounin. "YOSH! SHISHOU NO RYUUKI TRULY HAS THE FLAMES OF YOUTH!"

Kakashi inwardly cringed at the high volume (the others had deemed it amusing if they made the two rivals sit next to each other), then paid attention to Akina's reaction to the Green Beast's outburst. Her right hand twitched slightly, and he realized that this was the hand used to draw an Anbu sword.

The jounin at their table (Kurenai, Anko, Genma, Kakashi, Gai, and Asuma) all fell into a thoughtful silence, contemplating Kakashi's statement.

The question was: How would they contact the Shishou no Ryuuki to help them in the coming battle?

"Sandaime-sama would have thought of this already, since Ryuuki's reputation is spreading. If he didn't already contact him, then we can't," sighed out Genma, glancing at everyone with his half-lidded eyes.

They all nodded (others more slowly, not willing to give up such a good plan), before going back to their former conversation.

Anko glomped Kurenai from the side, putting an arm around her shoulders. "SO! When are you and Asuma getting together?"

Both skillfully hid their blushes and glared at the snake-user.

"ANKO!" "ANKO-CHAN!"

Naruto finished his sushi, letting Sasuke get up to pay for their dinner. He and Akina waited for the Uchiha outside the restaurant, walking through the deserted streets.

"Shishou no Ryuuki...is he really that powerful?" started Naruto, looking between his team mates. Akina was once again riding on Kouseki's back, after much insistence from the wolf, who kept on nagging that she was tired from her training.

"He has to be if he took out those bases so quickly, Naruto-baka."

"Urusei!"

They started bickering through their mind seal again, forcing Akina to lower the volume of their voices in her head. This had become a regular thing. Whenever they realized that they chanced the risk of making a scene (and therefore attracting the attention of...unwanted people; i.e. Fan girls and pissed off civilians), they carried on their argument in the mind seal, too irritated at each other to keep their insults to themselves.

Kouseki and Akina stayed a few meters ahead of the glaring boys, walking along as if they didn't know the two.

Well, actually, Kouseki was walking like that, and Akina was just riding on her back.

(_"So...about that sword..."_)

Akina replied directly in Kouseki's mind, making sure that the boys were oblivious to their conversation. _"It was able to resist white fire...the second hottest fire color. It had an aura, also..."_

The wolf was silent for a few moments before she responded, carefully choosing her words. (_"Right...we can go to the Council Cave and you can show me there..."_)

They reached the house that they had all come to call home. Naruto kicked off his shoes and called the bathroom first, while Sasuke and Akina entered at a more relaxed pace. Neither spoke of their training, acknowledging the fact that they might have to fight in the Chuunin Exam Finals.

They heard the water turn on, signaling that Naruto was now cleaning himself up in preparation for bed.

Akina nodded at Sasuke before she went back out the door with Kouseki following. The Uchiha paid her no heed. Since the first day they had lived in this house together, the two had taken strolls around Konoha before coming back to go to sleep.

The boys had been confused at first, but after seeing the various wildlife treat her with so much respect due to her position as their Guardian, it made sense. They were probably making their nightly rounds to make sure everything was alright.

It was the perfect excuse.

Several nocturnal creatures greeted the two as they passed by, heading towards the nearest forest. Anbu were scattered around the village, keeping an eye on everything since there were foreigners in the village.

Akina was a little amused to find out that Kenshiki had been given guard duty tonight. His spirit aura had a hint of annoyance and envy, which meant that he was most likely cursing the fact that she, as in Trainee Number 55, had no guard duty.

Spirit auras were different from chakra signatures and can only be sensed by those that had very acute senses in that area (which was extremely rare in Ningenkai, the human world) or were naturally able to.

The two continued to walk leisurely, sensing several Anbu linger around their area, as if trying to decide what to do about them.

When they were far enough that they could not be noticed, Akina grabbed a hold of Kouseki's pelt and shunshined towards the Council Cave, making sure to conceal them.

The large black wolf shook her fur, relishing the cool evening air. ("All right then. Show me the sword you found, pup.")

A scroll was taken out of her ninja pouch, from which she summoned the ancient katana. Immediately after it had entered the living world again, it seemed to scan the immediate area and seemed satisfied that it's 'owner' was there, going back into it's dormant state.

Kouseki stepped forward and sniffed at the piece of metal, and was disgruntled to find that it did not exude _any_ scent whatsoever.

("Draw the blade.")

Akina obeyed her, unsheathing it carefully, as to not damage it anymore. When it was fully drawn, the older demon narrowed her eyes, recognizing the symbols for what they were. Her expression grew grave.

("Itoko-chan,") she started, using a more affectionate title to show that she was completely serious. ("Don't use this blade unless you're sure you want to kill. These symbols are very old and ancient; I can't translate it, but I can tell you that this sword is from the time when the gods still walked the earth. I don't know _how the hell_ those idiotic humans got their hands on this, but it's extremely powerful.")

The girl sheathed the sword, nodding to show that she understood.

However, when she picked it up, it sent out a taste of it's aura, and just before it disappeared, the image of the Shinigami had flashed in her mind again. Akina paused for a moment before sealing the sword up.

_A sword from the time when the gods still walked the earth..._ repeated Akina in her mind. _Interesting._

* * *

Wow, that took a long time. Sorry about the slowness of this update, but I think the fact that it's quite a bit longer should make up for that...kind of. 

Please review and tell me what parts you liked and didn't like! I always love hearing these kind of comments, though the helpful criticism is greatly appreciated also.


	14. Encore

Thank you for all of your reviews! They really make me feel encouraged and help get me out of those writer blocks, especially if you make suggestions. I always consider them.

Also, when I said that Akina was riding on Kouseki's back at the end of the chapter, in the next couple paragraphs, it was like she was walking beside her. I went back and fixed that.

After this, I'm going to go back and correct some grammar and spelling mistakes in all of the previous chapters, since they really bother me, and I'm sort of a perfectionist. As such, don't be alarmed to find that you've been alerted for no reason.

"Talking"

_Thinking_

"_Telepathy through mind seal"_

("Animals talking" / _"Telepathy with animals"_ )

"**Demonic Language" / 'Demon talking telepathically with their jinchuuriki'**

_'Miscellaneous things such as signs, ANBU sign language, letters...'_

* * *

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

**::;Seeing the Truth;::**

**Chapter 14: Encore**

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Naruto and Kouseki stood side by side, looking at the stadium in which they would be fighting in. People were already making their way towards the stadium, intent on getting good seats.

The black wolf took a look at Naruto's face, noticing his stern expression. ("Nervous, bakayaro-chan?")

Seeing as there were other people around, he responded by placing a hand on her pelt and rubbing it a little to show that he was fine.

("Ohayo Kouseki-senpai!")

Team 8, with the exception of Kurenai, was approaching from behind, no doubt there to support Shino, who was stoic as always.

Akamaru greeted Kouseki by hopping onto her back and nuzzling her neck from behind.

Kiba took a tentative sniff at the air before frowning at the two. "Where's Akina-chan and the pretty boy?"

Hinata shuffled out from behind the boys, looking around worriedly before frowning reprovingly at Kiba. "K-Kiba-kun...be nice."

The Inuzuka just grinned and shrugged in an unconcerned manner. "Well, it's true!"

Both present members of Team 7 took the moment to grin at the teasing before Naruto answered.

"I haven't heard from the teme for a week, but I know he's alright. Akina-chan's off checking up on something. She said...er, she didn't really _say_, but I'm pretty sure she's gonna meet us in the stands before she goes to the competitor's booth."

Kiba nodded. That sounded like Akina, and it seemed like Akina was just checking up on the animals before coming back to check in on her human friends.

Kouseki knew better than that.

The higher-ups had good reason to believe that the attack on the Hidden Leaf Village would be sometime during the Chuunin Exam Finals. It was the perfect moment, if anyone thought about it.

Everyone would be busy at the Stadium, so it was likely that the security might be a little lax around the outer walls. By the time word got to the Hokage and all other military leaders that they were being attacked, the enemy would already be halfway into the village.

Right about now, Akina should be just getting back from a meeting with the Sandaime Hokage himself, with a few specific orders and suggestions that he thought she should follow. He also seemed to want her to become promoted to Chuunin level. It would save many people a lot of grief.

If Akina was made a chuunin, than she also had more freedom to...say, be assigned to go out on 'solo-missions'?

Naruto grinned at the quiet Aburame heir, his blue eyes shining in excitement for the fights ahead of them. "Good luck Shino—see you in the arena!"

Dark sunglasses were turned in his direction, and the bug-user said nothing for a while. The demon container stared back and didn't move until Shino gave a tiny inclination of his head. The grin grew wider before he nodded towards the stadium and led the way for all five of them.

"Hey...Naruto."

Naruto looked back at Kiba and blinked questionably at him, allowing himself to be dragged away to an alley by the Inuzuka. Once he was sure that they were out of immediate ear-shot of his team and Kouseki, Kiba looked grimly at his former classmate.

"Good luck with Neji."

Blue eyes acquired a determined shine. "Thanks. I'll make sure to straighten out that bastard. He had no right to push around Hinata like that."

Kiba's wild eyes looked surprised for a moment before he knew that Naruto understood the seriousness of this situation, and what he was trying to do.

Naruto was trying to knock something out of Neji that had been in his blood for quite a few generations. The hatred between the Branch Family of the Hyuuga and the Main Family had started a while back, and the animosity had only multiplied since then, due to a certain...incident a couple years before Akina arrived.

Both boys joined the group again in getting to the stadium, renewed determination coursing through their veins.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Naruto frowned from his spot in the line of competitors in the middle of the arena. He glanced around, seeing the equally bored looks of both Shiranui Genma, the growing crowd, and the emotionless faces of all the other genin competing with them.

"_Oi! Sasuke-teme, Akina-chan! Where the hell are you guys? They're having us line up in the middle of the arena in front of the judge..."_

"_Kakashi's making me do some last minute practice..."_

"_...I'll be there soon."_

"_Bah! Don't you guys want to be promoted?! Being late for the matches doesn't really seem responsible..."_

"_Hmmph. This coming from the King of Pranks? I don't believe it..."_ Naruto was both bewildered and disgruntled by the fact that he could actually _feel_ Sasuke rolling his eyes at him.

"_BAH!"_

Both boys could feel a little amusement from the quiet girl, and it made them feel a little more moody at the fact that this was the equivalent of Akina laughing at their behavior. It didn't help that she was a year younger than them.

The only reason that they didn't do anything about being laughed at was because it meant that she was opening up to them. They were afraid that if they reprimanded her for her amusement, then she would withdraw into her shell again.

"Yo, brat," called Genma. Naruto turned his head and sent a slightly miffed look at him, all while determining whether or not that was said with malice. His chocolate eyes held no resentment, only boredom, so Naruto tilted his head.

"What?"

"Have any idea where your team mates are? I didn't think they were the type to be late..." he drawled, unconcerned. However, inside, he was slightly disconcerted by the few seconds that had passed when he was being 'evaluated' by Naruto so closely. With those deep blue eyes seemingly searching his soul, it felt like he was being judged by some higher being. It was a slightly discomforting feeling.

"Do they need to be here in line or anything?"

The jounin shrugged a shoulder. "Not really. This is a good chance to be seen by the audience, though, but all we really want is for you guys to be here for your matches..."

There was a mutter beside Naruto from Shikamaru that sounded suspiciously like "I _knew_ I should have just stayed home..."

Naruto nodded. "They'll be here soon."

He reluctantly relayed this newfound information onto his team mates, and just as he suspected, felt some smugness radiating from Sasuke's mind.

Genma looked at all the participants in front of them, listened to someone talking in the ear bud, then looked up at the sky to see the time. Another ninja appeared in a burst of smoke behind him and gave him a paper before disappearing again. The senbon-chewing jounin glanced at the paper, then back at the genin.

"All right, you guys. It seems that one of our participants withdrew from the Finals, so the match-ups have changed slightly." He held up the paper for them to see. "Here's the new line-up."

Match One: Uzumaki Naruto VS. Hyuuga Neji

Match Two: Sabaku no Gaara VS. Uchiha Sasuke

Match Three: Sabaku no Kankurou VS. Aburame Shino

Match Four: Sabaku no Temari VS. Nara Shikamaru.

Match Five: Winner of Match Four VS. Takamaru Akina

Several participants made some sounds of annoyance at the change in plans, Shikamaru in particular. He had been preparing for an intense first battle full of tactical movements with Akina, but now he wasn't so sure he was prepared enough. _Bah...so troublesome. Two fights in a row?_

"Alright you guys, the spotlight is on you, so do your villages proud!" Genma nodded towards someone in the higher booths, then looked up at the audience.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the Chuunin Exam Finals here in Konohagakure, where these aspiring genin will fight against each other in a tournament for the right to be promoted to the chuunin level!" His voice was heard loud and clear throughout the entire stadium through speakers.

The young genin down in the arena were almost blown away at the amount of cheering that erupted from the crowd.

"Our first match is between Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji, both genin from Konoha! Will the other participants please go up to the competitor's booth?"

When the arena was empty of everyone but the ones fighting and Genma, their judge, he nodded at them both, putting a hand over the speaker so that everyone wouldn't hear his next words. "You guys ready?"

Neji inclined his head while Naruto shot a look towards Genma that clearly said "HELL YEAH!"

He nodded at them both and removed his hand from the speaker attached to his earphone. "Both fighters are ready. The match between Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji will now begin. Hajime!"

The applauding started up again and suddenly a loud war howl was heard clearly over the yelling and clapping for a short few seconds, courtesy of Kouseki who was now flashing her grin at the startled people sitting in the area around her and the other Leaf genin.

("KICK HIS ASS!") was the general message of her howl. Anyone who understood it couldn't help but crack a small smile or grin. Kouseki was generally known for this kind of behavior, even in the Inuzuka clan, so this was to be expected from her.

_I'll make sure to do more than that, Kouseki-chan..._

"What is with your team and cheering for the one that will inevitably lose?"

Naruto turned his blue eyes towards Neji and stared at him. Neji shifted slightly as he was subjected to the same uncomfortable feeling as Genma. "We cheer because that's our way of showing we support the ones we hold close to us."

"But fate has already decided that I'll win."

Naruto didn't shift his gaze from his face. "We're just puny mortals. Who are we to know what fate has planned for us?"

Neji frowned a little. "I am one of those who fate has bestowed a cruel life upon. The same is with all those from the Hyuuga Branch Family. Of all people, I should have the right to know."

But his opponent only shook his head, not breaking eye contact. "You aren't the only one with a tough life, Neji. Most of us here have these kind of problems that we shouldn't have to deal with, but we do anyways. That's life."

It was Neji's turn to shake his head. "You don't understand," he scowled. "my situation is different."

"How do you know that for sure? Take my team mate, Akina. She was born blind, and she'll probably stay blind for the rest of her life. This should automatically take away any chance for her to become a ninja, but look at her now! She worked her way around the fate that Destiny had given her and beat the odds."

Neji just shook his head again. "My situation is different," he repeated.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

The crowd above and around them was quiet, yet confused. Why weren't they fighting? What was happening down there? What are they talking about?

Most the ninja in the vicinity, however, could hear them loud and clear. They were tense, the Hyuuga section of the audience in particular, sensing the seriousness of the situation.

"Didn't the battle start already?" This question came from Chouji, though it took them a few seconds for the Leaf-nin around him to understand it, since the Akimichi had been eating while talking...again.

Kouseki studied the situation down in the arena, having followed Kiba and co. to the stands here to join up with Ino and Chouji. ("Yeah. Right now they are trapped in a battle of ideals and wills.")

Kiba relayed this statement to the others, who just looked at the wolf in surprise. That was pretty deep, coming from such a violent creature.

"A battle of ideals and wills..." murmured Ino, this match reminding her of the fight between her and Akina, and how Akina forced Ino to change her ideals. And now, Naruto was trying to do the same with Neji. _They really do belong on the same team..._

Hinata looked down at her shoes from her place next to Kouseki by the railings, knowing what they were talking about. Kiba lay a comforting hand on her shoulder while Akamaru whined a little. They had become more protective of the girl since her injuries, but since Akina had alerted the medic-nin to tend to her injuries early on, she was on her way to a full recovery, and healthy enough to walk around on her own.

"He can take care of himself, Hinata." Ino and Chouji turned their heads around so fast that Kouseki was wondering if they had suffered from whiplash. Akina had appeared mysteriously behind the group, startling the genin, but the two members of Team Ten were the only ones that showed a reaction, not being used to the enigmatic girl.

Kiba grinned at her. "Hey, Akina-chan! It's about time you got here!" Akamaru barked in agreement before she nodded in greeting to them all.

Hinata raised her head again to nod and give her friend a smile, albeit a small, shaky smile, in response to her words of comfort. While she knew that, being blind, Akina could not see it, the Hyuuga heiress _also_ knew that, somehow, she could sense her gratitude.

Ino shifted uncomfortably at Akina's appearance before mentally shaking it out of her system. "Hey, Nature Girl!"

Akina tilted her head at the Yamanaka, not seeming to take any offense. She had sensed the teasing manner in which she said her nickname. It's just like when Naruto called Sasuke a teme. No offense was really meant...it was just a nickname.

"Aren't you supposed to be up in the competitor's booth?"

She simply shook her head. Kiba decided to talk for her. "I don't really think that she needs to go up there until after her match. But I think she'll go after Naruto's match, right?" His guess was proved correct when she nodded.

Kouseki shushed them by growling lowly. ("Shut your traps! I wanna hear this!")

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Down in the arena, Naruto sensed Akina arrive in the stadium and head towards their friends through the mind seal, that being the only way he could sense her at all.

"_Hey, teme, Akina-chan's already here. Hurry up!"_

"_...Hn."_

"How is your situation different? I want to understand."

Neji just growled at him and broke eye contact, looking towards the area where the Hyuuga clan was sitting. "A dead last like you wouldn't be able to understand anyways."

A grunt coming from Naruto attracted his attention back to him. Naruto caught his white eyes again, letting Neji see his pain, loneliness, and bitterness. _Is it possible...that there is more to this guy that even the Hyuuga eyes cannot see...?_

"Try me."

Something in those deep blue eyes disturbed Neji. What was that he saw...? Behind the bitter emotions was...sympathy. Rage started to consume him. _Sympathy?! How dare he try to sympathize with me?! He just doesn't understand!_

Naruto didn't back down, even when Neji started sending him a death glare. He's been victim to _many_ of those in the past few months, so one more wouldn't affect him as much as the Hyuuga hoped it would. _Damn. It's like I'm playing with a bomb! One wrong move and BOOM!_

"Why?" spat Neji. "Why do you insist on prying? It's none of your business!"

"You made it my business when you beat Hinata-chan into a pulp in the preliminaries. She was my classmate, so I want to know what such a shy girl has done to receive that kind of punishment."

"So you sympathize with the Main House?" he hissed.

"I never said that—I just want to know the reason for your hate," Naruto replied coolly.

The chance for Naruto to try to change Neji's way of thinking slipped away. "There is no need for someone like you to know." Neji slipped into the starting stance for the Jyuuken, his Byakugan now activated.

Naruto successfully hid a disgruntled look, slipping into his own opening stance.

Both boys stared at each other for a few moments before Naruto decided to take action.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Sasuke cursed under his breath as he hastened to get to the stadium, aggravated at their sensei, who was following his student leisurely. Kakashi had insisted that the run over to the stadium from the village walls would be a good warm-up for his match, but the fact that he was missing Naruto's match aggravated him.

He could sense some frustration and pain coming from Naruto's end of the connection, so he blocked him out of his next words as to not distract him.

"_Akina. How is the dobe doing so far?"_

"_He's experimenting at the moment, but he doesn't seem to be getting anywhere. You aren't missing much."_

"_That's just like him. He has too much chakra to spare."_

"_Ah."_

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Naruto dodged another palm strike and skidded back to a safe distance, grimacing when the last of his first batch of Kage Bunshin was destroyed. Scattered around the arena floor were kunai and shuriken. Neji still hadn't gotten a scratch yet and was now smirking slightly.

_That Byakugan really is something. It's like he has eyes in the back of his head. He can see everything._ Sasuke's presence appeared next to Akina's. _It reminds me of a certain arrogant bastard. If I can beat Sasuke, then I can beat this Neji guy._

He crossed his two forefingers again. _Kage Bunshin no jutsu!_ A dozen clones completely surrounded Neji, from the air and ground before they each threw a kunai and multiplying those as well. _Kage Shuriken no jutsu!_

Neji's smirk turned into a slight frown at all of the projectiles now coming for him. _I didn't want to reveal this so soon, but I guess I have no choice..._

Chakra was released from every tenketsu in his body as he began to spin on the spot. "Hakkeshou Kaiten (Eight Trigrams Palm: Heavenly Spin)!"

A spinning dome of chakra surrounded the Hyuuga, deflecting all the kunai and blowing away the clones. Naruto's eyes widened before he got a hold of himself and took out another kunai and threw it at Neji.

Up in the stands many civilians frowned and muttered to themselves. What was this boy doing? Wasn't it already proved that anything you threw at it would be reflected back at you?

Hyuuga Hiashi, however, stared in a mixture of amazement and slight horrific fascination. _That's..! That's my technique. How could a Branch House member surpass those of the Main Branch by mastering such a move?_

The instant the kunai hit the dome, it exploded and the fire was picked up by the spinning air, creating a tornado of flames around Neji. The Naruto clones continued to throw cloned kunai knives and shuriken to force Neji to continue his technique while Naruto created ten more Kage Bunshin, spreading them throughout the arena. He took out another kunai, the other hand lingering at his side in a ready position.

From the middle of the tornado, Neji was experiencing the very same thing that Kiba had to go through in the preliminary rounds. The oxygen around him started to get sucked into fire, leaving him with less to breathe in. With his Byakugan still activated, he could see that the clones were running out of ammunition.

After two more volleys worth of time, Neji ended the technique, sweating and panting from the heat exposure. But before he could get his breath back, the real Naruto flung his kunai at him, taking off towards Neji. Despite the high temperature he just felt, Neji smirked inwardly. Naruto was asking for a beating if he was coming in for close-ranged fighting.

The kunai was caught and thrown to destroy one of the surrounding clones before Naruto and Neji met for some hand-to-hand combat.

_Naruto, what the hell are you doing?!_ Kiba scowled and clenched his fists from his place next to Hinata, who was watching anxiously with her hands at her mouth, eyes wide. _At this rate, you're gonna give her a damn heart attack!_

The Hyuuga heiress gasped slightly as her crush ducked under a palm strike and attempted to sweep Neji's feet. _Naruto-kun...be careful._ She glanced at his team mates and sensei, standing by the railings. _Why do they look so calm?_

Down in the arena, Naruto caught one of Neji's outstretched arms, knocking away the other one. _Now!_ One of his clones came up behind him as he was kicked in the stomach. As he flew through the air, it jumped over him, clapping its hands together in front of Neji's face.

A blinding flash of light illuminated the entire arena with a sharp ear-piercing bang, drawing cries of pain from many people, especially Neji, who had his Byakugan activated and was staring straight into the source of the light. His bloodline deactivated as he closed his eyes tightly.

Naruto filled the entire field with his chakra, forming hand seals at a rapid pace, three other clones mirroring his actions.

_Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!_

The chakra around the area gathered around the Narutos before they released their fireballs. Despite his hearing and sight being temporarily weakened, Neji had sensed the converging attacks and jumped out of the way, right as they hit, causing a massive explosion that rocked the stadium.

Using the cover of the smoke, Neji retreated back towards the trees on one side of the arena floor, crouching on one of the branches. _I need to stall him while I recover...my Hakkeshou Kaiten took up a big chunk of my chakra..._

"Why are you trying so hard? You've used up so much chakra and yet you still aren't close to winning this match. Face it, you aren't going to win, loser." His voice echoed around, making it hard to tell where it was coming from.

Naruto took care to keep his face in the same determined expression. _He's stalling, I can tell that for sure, but I can use this time for myself, too._ "I'm making all this effort because I never give up! And I never break my word! That's my nindo. I made a promise to beat you. I won't go breaking that now."

Neji ignored the last statement. "Your nindo? It seems strangely familiar...and what happened to the last person that said those words to me?"

The blond grimaced. _That was a low blow._ He checked all of his Kage Bunshin mentally before assessing his body to see the damage done. "She did nothing to deserve that beating."_He hit a spot on my shoulder blade, right forearm, and left thigh._ "She was trying so hard to change herself, all while being berated by her own flesh and blood—her cousin." _I can fight through the pain, and I still have a lot of chakra._

"Hinata-sama is only my cousin through blood. In no way can I truly consider her my family...not after what happened."

He then proceeded to explain his hatred, even going as far as coming out from the cover of the trees, taking off his headband, and showing Naruto the seal on his forehead, giving him a severe case of horrified deja vu. His thoughts went first to the seal that he shared with his team mates, then to the seal on his stomach.

Neji tied his hitai-ate back on. "You don't know how it feels to be branded with something that you can't get rid of."

Kouseki cringed inwardly from her spot next to Akina. _Kami-sama...way to put your foot in your mouth. I'm sure everyone else who doesn't hate Naruto like hell is thinking the same thing._

Naruto stared grimly at Neji as the memories of his childhood experiences with the villagers flashed across his mind's eye. The threats, curses, mocking, punishments, beatings, and...the loneliness. His blue eyes clouded over and darkened.

His opponent watched this change, his sight and hearing now back up to a suitable level (though not quite at one-hundred percent).

"You're wrong...I _do_ know how that feels like, and I can sympathize with you...but Hinata still didn't deserve what she got from you." A narrowing of his eyes stopped any protests that might have popped up. "Yeah, because your dad was born a few seconds late, he had to be in the Branch House, so what? But that also means that Hinata can't help being born into the Main Family. She didn't do anything! It's like you're punishing her for living..."

Neji just sneered. "Enough of this. Continue the match so that I can prove to you that it is a loser's fate to remain a loser—that they cannot change it."

"Fine then."

Naruto vanished out of sight as the Byakugan was activated again, reappearing behind Neji and jabbing him. Neji shifted to the side and caught the fist, pulling Naruto forward and turning around with his other hand ready to seal some more tenketsu. Naruto used the forward momentum to flip over Neji and release his arm, taking a kunai out as gravity played its course and called him back to the earth.

Before Naruto could land, Neji had already gotten into his next starting position and initiated his next attack.

"Hakke Rokujuuyonshou (Divination Field: Sixty-Four Strikes)!" Naruto's eyes widened, throwing his kunai to throw off the first series of hits.

"Nishou (two strikes)!"

The kunai was batted away.

"Yonshou (four strikes)!"

Naruto flared his chakra into a shield to block the hits towards his more vital organs. Neji's white eyes narrowed as he continued the attack.

"Hachishou (eight strikes)!"

The process was repeated again.

"Nihachishou (sixteen strikes)!"

A small grunt escaped the jinchuuriki's lips when his liver was hit, among other things. It was simply too much to block at one time.

"Sanjuunishou (thirty-two strikes)!"

Blood escaped his lips, but he refused to make a sound.

"Rokujuuyonshou (sixty-four strikes)!"

The force of this last series of jabs sent Naruto flying into the stadium wall, creating a small crater and plume of smoke. The rock crumbled around him, letting him fall back onto the dirt, unmoving.

Panting heavily from chakra exhaustion and fatigue, Neji straightened up and deactivated his Byakugan. He walked towards where his opponent's body lay, stopping a few feet away to observe.

"I told you that you couldn't change your fate. The moment I was chosen as your opponent, you lost. You can't escape it. No one can."

Neji looked back at Genma who was looking over Naruto's prone form from his place a few yards away. "It's over, proctor. There's no way he could be able to recover from that attack."

When his gaze returned to Naruto's body, it disappeared in a burst of smoke. Neji gasped in shock, the same moment that a pair of hands burst out of the earth beneath him and grabbed on, gripping them with chakra-induced strength as a couple dozen kunai flew out of the dirt, surrounding Neji with a web of wires.

Two Narutos burst out of their hiding places in the earth, one behind of Neji (who closed his eyes to block out the smoke and rock) to put him in a half-nelson and place a kunai at his throat, and another just outside the range of the web of metal, grabbing a wire and tugging it gently.

Exploding tags revealed themselves on the wires surrounding Neji, effectively trapping him. When he tried to gather a little chakra, the knife moved closer to his neck, biting into his skin. "Don't even try it. It's either surrender or your throat gets slit and you get blown sky high."

Neji grimaced as he fully took in the situation he was in. "How...?"

The Naruto holding the wire was the one to explain. "When you were trapped in the tornado, I made ten Kage Bunshin and spread them around the arena. The thing my clone used to blind you and make you deaf is something I invented a while ago. While you were disabled, I had my clones go underground to set up the trap, under the cover of my field of chakra." Neji's eyes widened as he took in what was being said. "When you were stalling and recovering, it was just more time for my clones to finish up the trap."

"But the chakra disruptions from my Jyuuken should have disabled your control over your clones!"

But Naruto made a disagreeing sound. "I'm used to working around chakra disruptions. Akina-chan attacks in a similar way."

"The Kage Bunshin no jutsu. I should have known. It is your specialty, after all." Neji made no move to escape.

"Did you know...? I failed the Graduation Exam three times before I became a genin...because there was this one technique that was always on the test that I just couldn't master. It was the Bunshin no jutsu." His opponent blinked in surprise. "Someone once told me that you were able to change the path that fate has given you if you tried your hardest. I kept on training and never gave up, and now I can do the Kage Bunshin no jutsu. If someone like me can change their fate...then so can you...because you're not a loser."

Genma smirked. _What a guy._ He raised his hand towards the Naruto holding the wire. "The winner of the first match of the Chuunin Selection Exam Finals is Uzumaki Naruto!"

The arena erupted into a symphony of cheering and applause.

Kiba pumped a fist into the air. "HELL YEAH!!!" Kouseki repeated this statement in a victory howl, with Akamaru joining in, though his voice was dwarfed by the wolf's.

Hinata sighed in relief and smiled. _Congratulations Naruto-kun..._

Sasuke glanced towards the two females next to him. "Let's go meet the dobe in the competitor's booth." They nodded and left amidst various wishes of good luck in their own matches.

The clone holding the kunai to Neji's neck put away the knife and stepped back as the clone holding his ankles underneath let go and resurfaced to help the other two Narutos clean up. Once they were done, the clones _poof_ed out of existence.

The real Naruto stepped up towards the older shinobi, holding out a hand. "Good match. I'm looking forward to a rematch, 'kay?"

Neji looked at his hand before raising his gaze to meet Naruto's. "Sure." They clasped hands briefly before Naruto grinned happily.

In the tree behind Naruto, a small bird chirped happily and rose off the branch, circling in the air before flying into the skies. Neji watched it until it disappeared.

"When captured birds grow wiser, they try to open the cages with their beaks," started Genma, looking thoughtfully at Neji, "They don't give up, because they want to fly again."

As the two boys headed towards the medical wing for a quick checking over, Genma announced that there would be a ten minute interlude.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

("Hey bakayaro-chan, nice match. Hopefully the Hyuuga kid won't be so tight-assed anymore.")

"Thanks Kouseki-chan!"

"Hey, dobe. Make sure to recover fast. I want to fight you at your strongest." Sasuke smirked after Naruto snorted at the hidden jab at his insane endurance.

Akina tilted her head at Naruto before nodding. _"It seems that all your experience as Konoha's King of Pranks will help you in the battlefield after all..."_

Naruto just grinned at her. _"Duh! Who else would be the Trap Master of the team?"_

"_You better not praise him too much Akina...his head will get too big. We would need to pop it...painfully."_ Sasuke stretched out his muscles as he said this, pointedly ignoring the loud protests aimed at him through the seal that connected their minds.

Genma's voice echoed throughout the arena. "It is now time for Match Two to start. Will Uchiha Sasuke and Sabaku no Gaara please come down?"

The members of Team Seven all nodded towards each other before Sasuke jumped over the railing. Naruto glanced at Gaara as he used the Suna Shunshin no jutsu. _Good luck..._

Down on the arena floor, the two genin stood facing each other, their faces both now devoid of any emotion. The lazy jounin merely glanced at them before speaking into the microphone. "Match Two between Uchiha Sasuke of Konohagakure and Sabaku no Gaara of Sunagakure will begin at my signal." He raised his hand up, dropping it down swiftly before backing away.

"Hajime!"

Sasuke watched for a few seconds as Gaara remained in the same position, arms folded and body relaxed. _He's not getting out his sand yet..._Just as he was about to make his move, the red-head flinched and grasped at his head in pain. The gourd shook—the sand just yearning to burst out to taste the new blood.

"Don't get so mad at me..." gasped out Gaara, panting, "...kaa-san."

The young Uchiha tensed at this statement. _What is he talking about...? No, I need to focus. _He shook his head mentally before disappearing in an amazing show of speed. The crowd gasped.

Gaara didn't seem to have noticed anything, still caught up with both the pain and conversation. "Before...before, I made you absorb foul blood...Gomen...But...this time...It'll taste better."

A blur of black appeared behind the red-head as a high-speed punch was thrown, but it was intercepted by a wall of sand as it exploded out of the gourd. Sasuke's form was now visible to the naked eye, pulling his hand out of the sand and backing off. _That was clever...using the extra speed from the freeing of the sand._ He panted lightly, looking a little tired from that burst of extreme speed.

The young demon container's little dilemma had settled and he was now glaring at Sasuke, sand shooting towards the Uchiha. He dodged the incoming sand, an aggravated expression on his face, but inside he was calm and making careful plans.

Sasuke came up close once again and repeated this punching process at different points around the red-head, but the result was the same each time. He backed off again, face still blank and eyes calm and calculating. By now, a little muttering had started up in the civilian sections, some questioning why he was doing the same thing repeatedly when it was obvious he'd get the same result.

He was satisfied with what he had done so far, but Gaara wasn't. His face had, by then, contorted into face that promised death, impatient now. He raised his arm towards the Konoha-nin, palm outwards and taking aim. The sand, split into two, followed his direction, all rushing towards his adversary. Sasuke ducked under them, dodging the various globs of sand that had been torn from the group. The original two throngs of sand separated evenly into balls of sand large enough to envelope entire limbs. With a grunt of exertion, Gaara sent them towards Sasuke.

He sent enough chakra to his eyes to gain some of the extrasensory advantages, but not enough to actually activate the Sharingan. He wanted to make a statement. He wanted to show the various dignitaries that he wasn't just the last Uchiha. He was a skilled ninja that didn't need the Sharingan to be strong.

Sasuke dodged through the bludgeoning balls of sand, watching them carefully. Emotionless black eyes regarded the spheres with disinterest as they suddenly stopped and surrounded him in a dome. They moved and all came together at him at the same time, a muffled sound of impact following. A vile smirk appeared on Gaara's visage, and the audience watched with bated breath as the fist clenched, and the sand compressed itself. There was a dull crunching sound. Blood dripped from the ball of sand, but Gaara wouldn't have that, no. He wanted his mother to enjoy every single drop of that blood. All of the sand returned to the young Suna-nin, circling around him, blotches of red tainting the placid brown.

Genma ignored the calls for the ending of the match, scrutinizing the red-head, who was starting to chuckle darkly. "Have I pleased you, kaa-san?! Did he taste—"

_**KA-BOOOOOOM!**_

Gaara was lost in the center of a globe of fire, and the smell of _something_ burning was everywhere. There was an audible crack, and without warning, hundreds and hundreds of shuriken and kunai were flying out of the flaming orb, accompanied by shattered glass shards. A few seconds later, the fire dissipated, and the Suna-nin was revealed, half of his body burnt and covered in small cuts. The other was protected by his charred sand armor. Gaara watched, horrified, as blood slowly started to seep out of his wounds. An ashy and slightly wounded Sasuke climbing out of the earth by the tree-line was ignored.

"My blood...I'm...I'M BLEEDING!!! MY BLOOD!!!"

All the sand once again circled around the boy, hardening into a dome, protecting the injured Suna-nin. Up in the competitor's waiting area, his siblings frowned in worry. It was to early to transform! It would ruin the entire operation!

From his position in the shade of the trees, Sasuke took out a single shuriken and sent it at the dome, not giving any response as it merely bounced off with a _clang_. Some sand separated from the top of the dome, creating an eyeball that stared unblinkingly in his direction. Wanting to test something, Sasuke ran a bit closer and jumped high into the air, forming hand seals as he went. He took a deep breath, and executed his jutsu.

_Katon: Housenka no jutsu!_ Five fireballs flew towards the dome, kunai hidden in each one. Right before they hit their target, a pack of spikes jutted out and countered them, deflecting the knives and shedding off the layer that had turned into glass. The prongs quickly retracted themselves, the eye never wavering in its stare.

Sasuke flipped back onto the arena wall, using chakra to run up until he was high enough. He turned around and looked down at the Suna-nin, forming a quick series of hand seals, his chakra spiking to a high level. He then gripped his left wrist, concentrating on increasing his chakra output until bright blue electricity danced around his left fist, and the distinct sound of birds chirping echoed throughout the arena. _Chidori!_ With a silent snarl, his Sharingan revealed itself and Sasuke took off, disappearing in a bright black and blue blur towards Gaara. The chirping sound multiplied for a moment before Sasuke reappeared in front of the dome, in between the spikes, his left arm piercing through the dome. There was a moment of silence before the dome crumpled and broke apart.

The Uchiha had impaled the other boy's right lung with his Chidori, a dark pool of blood rapidly appearing. But by doing so, he had put himself at risk, and it was proved as the sand reacted violently, wrapping around the Konoha-nin's body from the waist down. In response to that, Sasuke's chakra spiked again, and small currents of electricity formed on his left arm, threatening to unleash its power.

But before it could escalate, Shiranui Genma coughed to get their attention. "The match between Sabaku no Gaara and Uchiha Sasuke ends in a draw. As such, both fighters are eliminated from the competition. Please release each other and report immediately to the Medical Bay."

Black and teal eyes met, and killer intent was felt for a short moment. Sasuke glared, but was the first to let go of his advantage, the blue electricity disappearing. He waited until the sand loosened itself before pulling out his arm with a sickening _splurch_. He quickly replaced himself with a nearby kunai knife as the sand clenched itself, its owner in deep pain. With a scowl in Gaara's direction, the last loyal Uchiha walked towards the exit. Gaara snarled, before disappearing with a Suna Shunshin.

"_Oi, Sasuke-teme, you alright? You looked a little tired down there..."_

The scowl deepened as Sasuke sat down, being examined frantically by the various medic-nin. _"It's_ nothing_, dobe."_

"_Alright, alright, if you say so. Make sure to recover fast. I want to fight you at your strongest."_

Sasuke suppressed his snort of indignation, not amused with Naruto throwing his own words back at him. The playful feeling he got from the orange-clad shinobi informed him that it was felt anyways.

"Next up, Sabaku no Kankurou of Suna and Aburame Shino of Konoha. Come down."

The puppeteer grimaced before he traded a look with his older sister. She nodded. He called down towards Genma. "Examiner! I'm giving up! Go to the next match!"

There were some exclamations of surprise, and his opponent's brows furrowed a little. There was a sigh from the judge. "Kankurou has given up. Therefore Aburame Shino wins by default." There were still some disgruntled cries about, but they were ignored. "Will Sabaku no Temari and Nara Shikamaru please come down?"

The lazy genin merely opened his eyes from his resting position against the wall on the floor, staring balefully down through the railings._Bah...I have to fight two rounds in a row...Maybe I'll just lay here and forfeit the match like that puppet guy._

Naruto must have read his mind or something, because he just grinned mischievously before clapping Shikamaru on his shoulder. "Don't worry Shika! I know you can do this!" The hand clamped on said shoulder. "You just have to get there first!" With that, the lazy genius was tossed over the railing.

Shikamaru landed with a thump on his back and made no move to get up. He glared up at the booth from which he was thrown, scowling. _Damn you Naruto..._ The audience was quickly agitated and started booing and throwing their garbage at him.

"Come on Shikamaru! Get your lazy ass up and stop fooling around!"

"SHIKAMARU!!! Go for it and beat her ass!"

Temari seemed to be impatient to start as well, because she ran towards the boy, despite a call to stop from the proctor. When she was within range, she jumped up and swung her fan down like a club. A resounding rumble rebounded off the walls and a wall of dust was kicked up. When it had cleared Shikamaru was still frowning, standing on top of a couple of kunai stabbed into the wall.

"I don't care if I don't become a Chuunin...But a man can't lose to a woman...I guess I'll fight."

The kunoichi narrowed her eyes. With a roar she swung her fan, creating a large gust of wind that kicked up the dust again. It parted to reveal the two lone kunai. Blue eyes widened in surprise before she looked over her shoulder at the line of trees and smirked. _He's fast at running away..._

Shikamaru watched the daughter of the Kazekage from his perch on the branch._But then again, a man can't really hit a woman. I don't want to get hit either...Why am I the only one that has to fight a woman! And I have Akina after this if I win, too...Bah, mendosuke._

Genma chewed his senbon, frowning. _They didn't even wait for my signal._ He made a hand gesture towards some of the examiners posted around the arena, acknowledging the battle's early start.

The Nara sighed and looked up at the sky with slight longing before shaking his head ruefully, in what seemed to be a resigned manner. Temari narrowed her eyes at what she perceived as an insult, snapping open her fan until one purple dot was visible. As she swung the battle fan, she snarled out, "Kamaitachi no jutsu!"

The trees bent, threatening to uproot themselves as a large cloud of dust got kicked up, shielding half of the arena from view. A shadow shot out towards the kunoichi from the cover of the dust, who reacted fast and jumped back several times to avoid the touch of the shadow. As soon as the shadow has reached its maximum distance, it quivered to a stop and Temari marked the place with her fan, now smirking.

The dust cleared to reveal Shikamaru crouching against the wall, his hands set in a seal. The shadow retreated soon after, and Temari's smirk widened. "Ah...I see. I've seen through your Kagemane no jutsu! Looks like there is a limit to how much you can stretch, shrink, and change the shape of your shadow, isn't there...No matter how much you change and stretch the shape of your shadow, you still can't stretch it any further than the surface area of your normal shadow...right?"

Covered in a thin layer of dirt here and there, he replied with a "Haha...that's right..."

The girl observed the scene before her, quickly calculating the distance of the wall's shadow combined with Shikamaru's shadow from the mark she slashed on the earth. _15 meters and 32 centimeters..._

Shikamaru, the disgruntled look still on his face, touched his thumbs together, completing the circular shape with his other fingers connecting underneath the thumbs. His eyes closed.

Up in the stands, Kurenai frowned. "Is that some sort of hand seal? I've never seen it before..."

Asuma just chuckled. "No, you wouldn't recognize it because it's not a hand seal. It's what he does when he's working on a strategy. I've seen him do it many times when we played Shougi whenever he's backed into a corner."

The other jounin hummed in slight interest. "Well it doesn't look like it'll help much. One of the dead lasts of Konoha matched up against the Kazekage's oldest child...it seems almost unfair. And this is a real fight, not some game."

A chuckle was heard. "Don't count Shikamaru out yet. It is said that those games originally had their roots as a device for tacticians to plot their wars with. And if it means anything to you...I've never beaten him once in a Shougi game, try as I might."

"...What?"

"Yeah. After a few weeks or so as his sensei, I was wondering how a dead last could be so strong in strategic games like Shougi and Go, so I had him take an IQ test disguised as a game. I wasn't really taking it seriously at the time..."

"So...? How was it...?"

"It turns out he's a super genius with an IQ over 200!"

All he got in response was shocked silence. He nodded knowingly, still observing his student. "Yeah, I know. Who could have guessed that the laziest kid in the classroom was actually a genius?" Shikamaru opened his eyes, reaching into his hip pouch. Up above, his sensei's gaze sharpened. _He's done planning! It'll begin now!_

"It looks like you're finally going to get a little serious!" said Temari, before swinging her great fan again. _Kamaitachi no jutsu!_

In the midst of the gust, Shikamaru drew a kunai and moved back into the tree line, taking off his jacket once the winds had calmed enough. Temari swept her fan again. "How long are you going to keep running away for? Give up already!"

A single kunai knife pierced through the dust, forcing her to block using her open fan as a shield. She was given no time to recover when, once again, a dark blur chased after along the ground, shocking her by going past the line that she had marked earlier. But eventually it stopped.

"Very good, you saw through that..."

"I see. You were whiling away the time, waiting for the sun to drop lower...so that the shadows of the wall and yourself would grow larger..."

"Hmmph."

"The closer to sunset the longer the shadows grow..."

"Bah!"

Temari looked down at the stretched out shadow in front of her, frowning in thought.

"TEMARI! FROM ABOVE!"

Eyes widened as a small circular shadow appeared at the spot where Shikamaru's Kagemane no jutsu ended, and it was growing bigger. Her head snapped up to the sky, where she spotted a small parachute made of the Nara's jacket, hitai-ate, and a kunai. Gritting her teeth, she dodged backwards, avoiding the touch of the extended shadow.

"You won't escape!" grunted Shikamaru. After contorting the shadow to try to connect with Temari's, it stopped suddenly, at its limit once more. Temari skidded to a stop, smirking. She looked towards the sky to look at the sun's position. _If I keep this up, his shadow will keep growing and he'll keep expanding his reach._ With that, she set down her half open fan in front of her, shielding her from Shikamaru's gaze. _I'll divert his attention with the_ Bunshin no jutsu_...First, I'll hide behind the fan and create a clone...then it will jump out and draw his attention and with that opening...I'll use all my chakra and create the strongest possible_ Kamaitachi _and rip him apart! Right now, his shadow is..._ she glanced towards the ground to see the shadow in the same position as before. _Good!_ She started forming the seals for the simple jutsu.

_Bunshin no—_

Temari's eyes widened as her control over her own body was taken away from her.

"Hah...finally...Kagemane no jutsu...success!"

"Wha...what happened?! My body...the shadow can't have reached this far...besides..." but then she saw that, while she had been hiding behind her fan, the shadow had slipped into a hole that had been left behind from Naruto's earlier traps.

A lazy smirk now adorned the Nara's visage. "I'll show you what's behind you...," and he turned his head to look behind him, forcing Temari to do the same. Behind her was one of the holes from which a Naruto clone had jumped out of, a shadow reached out and grasping her own.

She shook in silent defiance while Shikamaru walked out from the wall's shadow, her body mimicking him until they stood a foot away from each other. The boy lifted one hand, then lowered it and mimed drawing out a kunai, watching with dull eyes as Temari's hands gripped a real kunai. Shikamaru's hand rose again, holding an imaginary knife to his own throat while the Kazekage's daughter actually held herself at knife-point.

"Well, what are you waiting for?! End it!" she snarled out, knowing that she had lost. Her opponent just sighed in response, raising his other arm up in what looked like the signal for admitting defeat. Temari did the same, eyes narrowed.

"I forfeit..." The blue eyes widened in shock. The rest of the audience wasn't much better, the sound of people spitting out their drinks and choking all around them.

"Nani?! Why?!"

Shikamaru directed his bored brown gaze at her. "This fight has completely exhausted my chakra reserves...in fact, I only have 5 seconds left before my jutsu cancels itself." His shadow disconnected with hers, returning to its rightful place. The Nara slouched and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Besides, it'd be too troublesome to keep on fighting..." And with that, he sat on the ground and stretched himself out flat on his back, looking at the clouds again.

"The winner by forfeit is Sabaku no Temari!" A round of cheers from the section with Suna-nin rose, bringing their kage's daughter's spirits up a little. Her gaze settled on Shikamaru for another moment before she started heading in the direction of the exit, towards the Medical Bay.

"OIII! Shikamaru, you lazy ass!" Still lying flat on the ground, Shikamaru vaguely noted that an orange blob was blocking his view of the clouds in the sky. _No, wait, it's Naruto..._

"Mendosuke...stop screeching...like I don't have to put up with that enough at home and at training..."

"There will be another ten minute interlude as Sabaku no Temari gets a quick check-up in preparation for her second round against Takamaru Akina of Konoha." Genma turned towards Naruto, turning the mike off. "Hey, kid. Your teammate is here, right?"

The genin stopped ranting to turn his head towards the jounin and grin slyly. "You can't sense her, can you?" It wasn't said with any malice, just some fun teasing.

Brown eyebrows rose. "Considering the fact that I've never met her or felt her chakra signature before—no, I can't."

Naruto just laughed, conceding defeat to the fact that he had overlooked that little tidbit. But he couldn't leave without one last comment, once he was sure that Temari wasn't around to hear. "Really? 'Cuz I can't sense her chakra signature either, and I'm her teammate!" He sounded proud, so Genma just looked pointedly at Shikamaru and the Medical Bay exit, inwardly amused. The boy got the message and dragged Shikamaru off, completely ignoring his previous rant and now talking about his friend's battle.

_I'm not too sure being unable to sense your own teammate's chakra signature is something to be proud of, kid. Something must be wrong with you if you can't._

Little did he know, he would soon find out just what Naruto had meant when he said those words.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Shikamaru had been announced completely healthy, so Naruto had gotten him in and out of the sick bay quickly. Once they had reached the others in the audience, Naruto saw Kiba's canine partner and snickered suddenly. "Was chakra-exhaustion the only reason for your forfeit? Or were you too lazy to fight Akina-chan?"

There was some grumbling before the rest of the genin converged upon them and started discussing the last two fights. Sasuke listened from next to Kakashi, leaning against the guardrail. He had gotten back half-way through the last match, still covered with splashes of ash, but otherwise okay.

In the competitor's waiting area, Akina tilted her head to the side when she felt a foreign chakra spread throughout the stadium, recognizing it as a genjutsu before it tried to invade her chakra system. Reaching inside herself, she stopped the flow of chakra within her for a moment before forcing her chakra to spike to release the genjutsu's hold over her. The others in the stands, save for Chouji and Shikamaru, did the same.

"Genjutsu..." muttered Naruto, narrowing his eyes and glancing around. The stadium grew quiet as the civilians fell into a genjutsu-induced sleep and the shinobi got ready for any attacks.

An explosion rocked the arena and in the distance, a plume of smoke could be seen by the village walls. The feathers vanished once they had completed its objective. Kakashi glanced back at the genin, taking in their current status.

"Naruto. Sasuke."

His genin nodded. "Hai."

As the two quietly gave directions to their fellow genin, Oto-nin had gathered in a line in front of the railing, with an ANBU member in the middle. Both jounin's eyes narrowed at the sight.

"I see we have a traitor in our ranks, Kakashi," said Gai in a serious tone. The silver-haired ninja nodded, closing his book and putting it in his ninja pouch.

"Ah."

In the background, Team Seven was ordering the others to wake up those caught in the genjutsu in low tones. Sasuke was to bring Shino, Akina, and Kouseki to them. The rest were to regroup towards the back wall.

Ino scowled as she looked down at her team mate, ignoring the sounds of a battle waging above their very heads as the sensei fought the Oto-nin. _Argh! Chouji, you should have listened to me when I suggested the genjutsu training. _She released the Akimichi from the genjutsu, slapping a hand on his mouth and forcefully dragging him towards the other genin, ducking underneath a stray kunai along the way.

Naruto squatted in front of Shikamaru's prone form laying down on the floor, his eyebrows furrowed. _This lazy ass isn't under a genjutsu! He's just playing opossum!_ He poked him on his head. No response. Another poke. No response. A frustrated vein grew at his temple. But then it went away as an idea popped into his head.

Using both hands, he pinched Shikamaru's cheeks and stretched them out this way and that. "Shikamaru! If you don't want us to leave you here to die, you'd better wake up!"

_That_ got a reaction. Grumbling under his breath, one of Shikamaru's eyes peeked open, glaring somewhat at Naruto. The pinching hands were slapped away and he let himself be dragged along the ground towards the others, not bothering to get up. _Mendosuke..._

Immediately after arriving, Akina crouched low to the ground as she made a half-ram seal, pressing it against Lee's head. _Kai. _His eyes flickered open, but before he could ask what was going on, he saw the finger pressed to Akina's lips. She pointed towards the others at the back wall and he nodded, understanding.

Once the genin of Teams 7, 8, and 10, plus Lee, were gathered, they looked around, taking in the situation.

"It looks like Suna's betrayed us and joined up with Oto," began Sasuke, seeing as no one was talking. Naruto nodded and took charge.

"We have to help out. We're Konoha ninjas, too. We should go back up places we know will be in trouble." He paused to look thoughtfully at Sasuke, Lee, Hinata, and Shikamaru. "Sasuke and Shikamaru can take soldier pills to refill their chakra stores if they need them, but Lee and Hinata will have to get to safety somehow."

Said ninjas looked down a little dejectedly, but understood. A sweat drop appeared on the back of Naruto's head as he patted their arms apologetically. He turned back towards the others. "Anybody have an idea of which places need help evacuating and defending?"

"The Academy."

"Hospital."

"Civilian neighborhoods."

"My team can help out at the Academy. There's enough room for us to maneuver there," voiced Ino. Shikamaru and Chouji shrugged, not disagreeing. Clearly, Ino was usually the spokesperson for their team.

"We'll take the civilian neighborhoods," said Kiba, catching a kunai that was flying towards his head and throwing it back at the ninja, managing to hit him on the leg. "That's a big area, so Shino, Akamaru, and I will do better there than you guys will." Akamaru barked in agreement and Shino inclined his head minutely.

Naruto grinned at his team mates. "That leaves us with the hospital."

"Kouseki and I can get Lee and Hinata to safety," Akina murmured, keeping half of her attention on the jounins' battle/contest. They had begun counting how many enemy ninja they had taken down a minute ago.

("We need to go check in on the local wildlife, anyways.") A fanged grin was given. It was fortunate that by this time, the others had gotten used to her rather menacing appearance.

"Alright then, let's move out!"

"Hai!"

When the other genin disappeared, Kouseki cast a worried gaze over at the rectangular barrier that was brought up to separate Orochimaru and Sarutobi from the others. _You'd better not die, old man._ A nudge from Akina showed that the three genin were ready to go.

Hinata and Lee, after being told to mount the large wolf, still looked slightly confused as to what they were doing when Kouseki put her paw on Akina's foot, but trusted Akina enough not to ask, considering the situation.

Both genin sensed some of Kouseki's chakra merging with Akina's, and before they could react, the girl had formed her last seal and had executed her jutsu. _Shunshin no jutsu._

Their eyes widened in surprise before their training kicked in, telling them that they were still in a combat situation. A quick glance around told them that they were a quarter-mile away from the Hokage Mountains.

"We need to get you two to the shelters. Hold on tight." At her warning they gripped the black fur tighter, right before the two demons-in-disguise took off at a sprint towards one of the hidden entrances. They slowed down when they were within the 100-meters of the entrance, allowing whoever was guarding it to identify them and let them through.

The cries of the small children reached their ears when they stepped inside the main chamber after walking through a couple tunnels. Iruka spotted them, being part of the first group to get here safely, and hurried over, carrying a clipboard.

"Ah! Akina-chan, Lee-kun, Hinata-chan, Kouseki! Is everything okay out there?" His worried gaze swept over them. Akina nodded her head. Kouseki made an odd snuffing sound.

"Lee and Hinata are not able to participate in the defense of the village, due to medical problems. Please check them in, Iruka-sensei," stated Akina. She waited for his affirmative response before about-facing and exiting the way she came in. Kouseki allowed herself to be pet once on the head by the Hyuuga heiress before departing through a different exit, causing a few eyebrows to rise.

A single thought went through the minds of the three Konoha-nin.

_I wonder what they're going to do..._

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

The dozens upon dozens of Narutos appeared and spread out throughout the area, some concealing themselves for future attacks. The real Naruto was ducking under the slash of a kunai knife and sweeping the other ninja's feet, starting to wonder where his female team mates were.

"_Oi, Sasuke-teme. Did Akina tell you what she was going to do after dropping off geijimaru and Hinata-chan?"_

There was no response for a short period of time, in which Sasuke was fending off a particularly aggressive Suna-nin. _"No, but she'll come when she needs to come."_

A feeling of agreement radiated from the jinchuuriki's mind. Akina wasn't one to ignore her duty as a kunoichi or to her friends.

A large amount of clones being destroyed on their eastern side alerted him to a stronger ninja. Naruto whipped around, readying a kunai, having knocked out his opponent, when the sound of sand shifting behind him caught his attention.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Kiba flipped over the Oto-nin, pile-driving him into the dirt and knocking him out. Up ahead, Shino was leading a group of villagers that had panicked and gone the wrong way, his swarm of kikai bugs already out and ready for some action.

Akamaru ran next to his partner as they covered the civilians' rear. ("Bro! Something big is coming!")

"What?"

("I dunno. It sounds kinda like a stampede or something.")

The secondary heir of the Inuzuka clan had a sneaking suspicion as to what it was, but before he could tell his teammates, a black hawk shot down from the sky and ambushed an unsuspecting ninja that had managed to sneak up behind the pair while they had been distracted.

"Aaaargh!" She tried swiping her kodachi at it to ward it away. Kiba rushed forward and swung his fist, just skimming her stomach as she dodged last second. She backed off a few feet, raising up her blade into a position to attack, sneering at the younger ninja.

"An Inuzuka, huh? Let's see if you can stand up to the might of the Sound Village!"

Kiba would have made a cutting remark in response to her statement had the kunoichi not struck the ground with her sword, sending a sonic-boom hurtling towards him. He jumped and spiraled to the side, guarding his ears as the attacked shrieked by, causing bells to ring in his head. Akamaru growled in pain.

"C'mon Akamaru!"

("Right!")

The little dog came charging up behind her, just as the hawk returned to claw and peck at her face. This distracted the Oto-nin enough to allow Akamaru to latch onto the joint where the right arm was connected to the torso. Coincidentally, it was the arm that held her sword. It clattered to the ground and the unusually violent bird took the opportunity to rake its talons across her face. She hissed in pain, glaring at Akamaru, as he had distracted her enough that she had let her guard down. The kunoichi raised a fist to punch him when it was caught by Kiba.

"Don't you dare hurt him."

A rage-filled punch connected to her solar plexus, not only knocking the air out of her, but smashing her through a wall as well. The dust cleared, revealing an unconscious kunoichi.

Hiroki lighted onto a nearby light-pole, surveying the damage. _Ah, so this is why they warn others not to harm those belonging to the Inuzuka pack._ A screech from above alerted him to incoming ninja. The two Inuzukas recognized the call and rushed off to rejoin their team mate, now knowing who had come to help them.

("Brother,") called out Hiromi as she circled overhead. ("We have to keep on scouting the village. Only some genin and chuunin have managed to get filtered through the blockade the Konoha-nin put up, but we still need to be on our guard.")

("I understand.") The rumbling grew louder, and out from the shadows of the buildings, streaks of color darted through the alleys and streets, following more birds in the sky. ("After all, the other animals are counting on us.")

The sound of the stampede ceased to exist once the blurs passed the two birds.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"Sir! The eastern section of the school has been secured!"

"Good." The man wearing a gray cameo-scarf around his neck nodded. "Continue."

"Yes, sir!" He jumped and disappeared, leaving the ninja all alone. Another Oto-nin materialized next to him.

"Reporting from the eastern section of the school, sir! It has been secured!"

The ninja's eyes narrowed. "Someone has already reported from that section. Why are you doing so again?"

Confusion was plain on the reporting ninja's face, but before any more could be said, four others appeared to give their own reports. They traded questioning looks at the hold-up. And suddenly, they found that they couldn't move. "Nani...?!"

_Kagemane no jutsu, complete. _

A circular object shot out of the shadows and bowled them over, right after the shadows disconnected themselves from Shikamaru's. Senbon planted themselves in the necks of the sound ninja before they could get up.

The object that had attacked stopped its movement, revealing Chouji, who let go of his jutsu and returned to his normal size. Ino hopped down from the roof of the building. She grinned at her team mates.

"Right! That takes care of the Academy! It's a good thing that this is one of the first places to be evacuated, though, and since there was no one here to begin with, those bozos didn't have anyone to attack!"

The Akimichi nodded before noticing that his best friend was sweeping his eyes over the landscape again.

"Even though no one's here, we still need to make sure that this area stays intact. And since it's so close to the emergency shelters, anyone who hasn't been evacuated by now will most likely pass by, so we need to be able to give them a safe path," mumbled Shikamaru, still staring dully at the surroundings. His teammates looked around as well, seeing the vast amount of space to patrol. There was no way that just three people would be able to do this.

The three looked disgruntled, but Ino looked up at the big tree in the front yard harboring a swing, a thoughtful look appearing. A small sparrow was perched atop the swing's branch, tilting its head at the platinum blond. _I know I'm gonna look like a complete idiot doing this, but we have no choice..._ Ino waved a little at the small bird to catch its attention before calling out to it, earning a pair of incredulous looks—not because of the fact that she was calling to an animal for help, but because she was asking for help from one of Akina's charges.

"Excuse me tori-san! We need some help to patrol this area! Can you go get some help from your friends?"

The tiny bird hopped off of the branch and flew over to hover in front of the girl, chirping in what seemed to be confusion. ("How are we supposed to communicate?!")

Seeing as the bird looked like it understood her and was not attacking, Ino quickly added, "Fly to Shikamaru if you'll help us. Fly to Chouji if you can't."

("Oh okay, if you say so.") She flew around the lazy boy's head (who closed his eyes in annoyance to avoid getting dizzy) before shooting off into the sky.

"It must be handy to always be able to get help like that..." said Chouji, thinking aloud.

Not a minute later, a small group of big cats dropped into the courtyard, each the size of Kouseki. The black panther nodded towards them in recognition (being one of the panthers that had given them a ride in the Forest) before each of them—tiger, black panther, mountain lion, and leopard—looked towards the Nara in expectation. He sighed again.

"I'll need the mountain lion to stay here while the rest of us spread out in the area. If any of the animals find something or run into any trouble, let out two short and quick roars and the closest person will come to help. That okay?"

There were nods all around before six of the seven in the odd group disappeared, leaving the tawny colored cat alone to prowl the campus, camouflaging into the background.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

The petite girl weaved through the shadows, avoiding the occasional skirmish as she headed towards her destination: the area in which the great rectangular force field had been brought up. As she landed on a roof a couple buildings away from the kage level fight, she could distantly feel the air distort all around her as the Oto-nin unleashed their attacks. _Hokage-sama..._

Akina crouched out of the view of the snake sannin and the Sandaime, making sure that she was visible to at least one ANBU operative, before reaching into her hip-pouch and pulling out a thick wad of explosive notes. Priming them to set off at her leisure, she cupped the wad in her hands and let the wind carry the notes away towards her target building, two by two.

_What the hell?_ The now curious owl masked ANBU watched in his peripheral vision as the tags slipped noiselessly into the building through the few cracks scattered on the walls. A couple seconds were used to mentally brush away the amazement (after all, it's not every day that you see inanimate objects move almost of their own accord), before he shifted his weight to his other foot, catching the attention of his captain. Being in front of the higher ranked operative, it was easy to conceal the hand signal from the Oto-nin in front of them using his sleeve.

_'Unexpected ally to the right. Don't attract unwanted attention while observing.'_

Now the boar masked captain tilted his head, as if to get a better view of the fight in front of the ANBU, which had just escalated as the first two Hokage were summoned back from the dead into fake bodies._ Isn't that the blind nature girl?_

After all the tags had been 'sent to their stations', Akina turned her head to face the ANBU captain, holding up four fingers. The captain straightened his posture in response, his reply discrete, yet obvious. He wasn't going to interfere with what she was doing, and would be watching the battle for openings until then. How he knew that the girl still knew how he had just answered, despite being blind, he didn't know.

Satisfied, Akina sat down against the wall and made herself somewhat comfortable, casting her senses throughout the area and leaving her body a little open to attack, yet not unprotected. A little sparrow fluttered towards the small girl, landing daintily on the top of her head, to serve as an extra security measure.

After the initial sweep-over, the girl slipped into a meditative trance, sinking deeper and deeper inside herself, trying to find her center. The sparrow faded away first, then the building, then the fighting, then Konoha itself. In the midst of her everlasting darkness, she searched. Her breathing slowed down and after a few more seconds, her head slumped onto her chest.

This alarmed the vigilant ANBU a little, but they kept their positions, still curious.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Kouseki trotted past the bemused sentry at the entrance of the bunkers, stopping a few feet in front of him. Looking around and tilting her furry head, she let out a low bark. The bemusement turned into dumbfounded astonishment when an unusually large beige monkey front-flipped into the small clearing. It straightened out, did a little jig that reminded the chuunin of a certain sannin, then saluted at the wolf with what seemed like mock-seriousness.

She shook her head, growling out a message for a few seconds before she looked back and nodded at the sentry, disappearing into the forest. The monkey relaxed its posture the moment the wolf had gone, scratching its butt, before bouncing over to chuunin and taking the guard position on the other side of the opening. Lifting itself into the air with its tail, the monkey looked at the human and mimed looking out at the forest, evidently trying to communicate with him.

The chuunin nodded mutely in understanding before returning his gaze to the area before them. _This isn't weird. Nope. This isn't weird at all..._

The demoness in disguise snickered inwardly as she made her way to her next stop, near the area where the first generation of the famous Ino-Shika-Chou trio was stationed. _One down, a lot more to go...bah...I got stuck with the boring job..._

Up ahead was a section of the civilian neighborhoods and when she heard a distinct buzzing in the distance, she couldn't help but grin as she found a way to make things a bit more interesting. She sped up, disappearing.

And reappeared on the head of a lone Suna-nin who had been pursuing Shino, carrying a young child who had lost her mother during the rush. With a meaty thump, he proceeded to kiss Mother Earth under the weight of a wolf the size of a bear. The girl yelped in surprise from her position in the boy's arms. Mentally confirming that the shinobi had been knocked out, Kouseki never broke her pace, now running beside Shino, who nodded in appreciation.

Glancing to the side, she saw that the girl was healthy, before letting out a short bark. A black panther silently appeared on Shino's other side, keeping speed with the other two. Its intelligent yellow eyes went from the girl to its back a couple times until the bug user got the message, placing the child securely on its back. Small hands gripped the fur, terrified of falling. "Don't worry," wide eyes snapped to the Aburame in surprise, that being the first thing he's said the entire time, "he'll take you to a safe place." She nodded fearfully, lowering herself to hug the panther's neck and reduce the wind resistance. Now sure that she was safe on his back, the big cat jumped up and disappeared over the building.

Nodding towards Shino, Kouseki disappeared once again, continuing her assigned task.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Akina sank deep into her subconsciousness, drifting through a different kind of darkness than she was used to. Instead of the darkness of the blind, it was the darkness of the mind and soul. It felt dense, traveling through this space, and there was something pushing against her, as if trying to make her leave—like swimming underwater against the current. But she continued on, intent on her destination, and after what seemed like hours, when the pressure had started to hug her 'body' tightly, the current, 'water', and pressure disappeared. Her stomach jumped as she started to free-fall—faster and faster until her mind was telling her that it would never stop, and that she would be okay if she would just go back the way she came, but Akina knew that these weren't really her own thoughts.

After a few more 'minutes', she landed with a _thwump_ on what she perceived as solid ground. Straightening up, she opened her eyes, only to be greeted by blindingly bright, white mist. She couldn't help but flinch, as she did every other time she came here, at_ seeing_. Her retinas burned at the intensity of the brightness, an unfamiliar feeling, and it took a couple 'minutes' before the pain receded. Knowing that her journey was not over, she set off at a run, plunging into the smothering mist. Her pace was that of an ordinary human (non-ninja), as was the same with all of her other abilities. It frustrated her to be moving at such a slow speed, cut off from her ability to sense dangers, but she knew that it was just the way it was here.

_Something_ rushed towards her from the right at an impossible speed, and Akina braced herself, instinctively knowing that she wouldn't be able to dodge. But right before the impact, it stopped and hesitated, sensing that Akina was the owner of the area that it guarded. A mental order from the girl to cease and desist confirmed it, and it stopped all movement. The air around it distorted, revealing a white wolf, Kouseki's size, everything the same pigment as that of the mist around them, from the eyes to the claws.

It lay down, allowing Akina to climb onto its back, and it stood up, running off in one direction with that same impossible speed. One instant, they were surrounded by white mist, the next, they were in front of a white wall that stretched on forever, upwards and sideways. The wolf let her down, touching her with its snout before disappearing back into the mist. Stepping forward, Akina put one hand out, feeling the wall, before pushing forward, walking through the wall as if it were water.

On the other side, a beautiful green paradise, surrounded by tall, tall, mountains, was revealed. But Akina ignored everything, immediately sprinting towards the center of her mind-scape, a pleasant forest, its trees not unlike those of the Forest of Death. She swung through the branches, whizzing past strange glowing fruit growing off the trees, until the forest opened up to a clearing, in the center of which was a black pond, shaped in a perfect circle. Hovering a few meters off of the surface of the black water was a large, glowing jade egg, surrounded by tendril upon tendril of shimmering white fire, circling their charge.

Her eyes landed on the tree branch she was standing on, and after a moment of focus, it moved until a path leading to the egg was created. She walked along the thick branch until she was directly in front of the egg, taking control of the flames as she went. A mental order made the wrap around the egg and the trees surrounding the clearing, effectively connecting them. Another order made the flame tendrils lengthen and slower lower the egg into the pond until only the tip was still visible.

Pleased, Akina watched as the dark pool glowed a soft pale green, and she felt a tugging at her being. Obliging to the feeling, she jumped off of the branch, and into the pond.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

The scene of utter blood and destruction should have made her feel_ something_, she knew that, but she felt oddly detached as she returned to reality, as if it didn't matter what happened here—the elements would still be here to create everything all over again. It was as if she were everywhere at once—the Academy's courtyard, the Hokage Mountains, the rooftop where the ANBU were still situated...

The shifting of feathers drew her attention to the sparrow still sitting on her body's head, resting against the wall of a building. There was a brief sense of satisfaction as she realized that she had achieved what she wanted. She had merged part of her spirit with the air, transferring her consciousness out of her body. But she had made sure to anchor herself to her true body, which was why she had to be careful not to let her body come to any harm, because she would feel the pain as well.

Akina turned her spirit's 'gaze' towards her body, sitting in front of her, and concentrated for a moment, until her right hand lifted and pointed towards the purple barrier. It was strange to have to actually focus on doing such a simple action, but at least the watching ANBU had been alerted that she was about to act. Once that was done, she flew towards a window of the building where the main battle was occurring and didn't bother to brace herself as her 'body' was compressed to fit through the small crack in the glass, flowing into the building with the air.

In front of the hospital, the girl felt that an arm made of sand had been about to grab Sasuke, who was busy dealing with four other ninja, but Akina couldn't have that. A blade of wind slashed it in half, giving the Uchiha more room to maneuver. A ball of compressed air was shot towards the shocked Suna-nin afterwards. Akina did this while moving up towards the top floor, where her explosive seals had stuck themselves onto the roof, on each of the four corners. A mental command caused the kanji to glow a hot red, and Akina quickly sent herself out the window crack and up to the roof, where she hovered next to the ANBU captain. Four simultaneous explosions went off in each of the Sound Four's positions, and the great plumes of fire quickly turned into gargantuan tornadoes. The purple barrier flickered, and died out, just as a ghastly, unnatural wind blew past everyone in the vicinity. Akina knew that it was not the air's doing.

The ANBU quickly moved towards positions where they could strike the burning Oto-nin once the tornadoes dissipated, but Akina wasn't paying much attention to that. She was watching as a familiar white-cloaked figure materialized behind the Sandaime Hokage and two of his Kage Bunshin. The Shodai Hokage, Nidaime Hokage, and Orochimaru were all held in strangle-holds by two more clones and Enma, the monkey king.

The Shinigami grinned darkly, his arms spread out, thin claw-like hands clenching and un-clenching. His bloodied white haori fluttered of its own accord, and then his hands shot out, going right through the two clones standing next to Sarutobi and into his two predecessors. He gripped their souls and pulled them out, through the clones again, and released once his arms were by his side again. The spirits of the first two Hokage hovered confused, next to the God of Death, but stayed silent, observing the scene before them.

"Sarutobi Daisuke..." hissed the Shinigami in a chilling, gravely voice. Orochimaru tried to escape again, not seeing the Shinigami (who could only be seen by those involved in the summoner's request, not including any spirits like Akina and the Hokage), but failed as Enma squeezed harder. "What is it...that you wish for me to do...?"

Adrenaline was rushing through his veins, but even still, Sarutobi Daisuke could not suppress the shudder. S_hinigami-sama, I have summoned you to remove the soul of my wayward student, to be devoured as punishment for his evil deeds_, he thought, knowing that the kami could hear him even in his own mind.

The Shinigami was silent, and for a moment, the Sandaime Hokage feared that his request would be denied, but then, "It shall be done...I shall take his soul for myself...in exchange for the removal of your own soul...Sarutobi Daisuke, do you agree with these terms?"

_Yes._ The ghostly forms of his two sensei watched with sad eyes, not noticing that there was a third person in the spiritual audience, who now had half of her attention on the Sound Four. Akina augmented the pyre tornadoes with blades of wind, attempting to shred them to pieces. The smell of blood now shrouded the area.

And then the Snake Sannin started to struggle in earnest, because the form of the Shinigami, with its skin, the colored of dried blood, and narrow horned head, had finally revealed itself to him. Golden eyes widened in true fear for the first time in many years. The fanged grin reappeared at this, and the Shinigami took pleasure at seeing it increase when he plunged his hand through the Sandaime's body, and into Orochimaru's.

_Nooo! It cannot end like this!_ Orochimaru could already feel his soul being pulled from his body, and in a last ditch attempt at escape, he willed his tongue to shoot out and grasp the Kusanagi, managing to drive it through his old sensei's body. The elder shinobi's body shook as he felt the darkness start to creep up on his vision.

_If I cannot take away his soul...then at least...at least I can take away his dream!_ He adjusted his request, and the Shinigami switched his focus to the arms, removing his soul's arms and sucking them into his mouth, eating them as if they were a great delicacy. Orochimaru screamed in pain and collapsed onto his knees, shuddering.

"Orochimaru-sama!"

Three ninja appeared by his side, all suffering from full-body third-degree burns, sporting several deep gashes, and panting from lack of oxygen. Jiroubou, a large teenager, carefully placed his master over his shoulder, dutifully ignoring any pain, before jumping off the building with the other three. Akina, about to try to help the ANBU stop them, suddenly felt a pull at her being, and she looked back at her body on the next building. She was shivering and sweating, alarming the sparrow on her head. She sensed another entering the plane of the spirits, and turned her head back as the Sandaime Hokage started to rise out of his body. Two large pulses of demonic chakra in the distance were ignored in favor of what was in front of her.

An uncomfortable feeling then washed over her, and it was with slight astonishment to find that all movement around them had simply stopped. All time on the mortal plane had been stopped, and the one responsible for that was glaring in Orochimaru's direction.

"Sarutobi Daisuke...you were not able to fulfill your end of the deal...I wanted his _entire_ soul," started the Shinigami, hissing in displeasure. All those who heard him stopped themselves from backing away from the agitated kami. "As such...I will not allow you to rest in peace until this Orochimaru's soul is all mine." A three-foot chain appeared, connecting the Sandaime's soul to his body. Akina stubbornly ignored the pull of her body, intent on watching the scene even though she knew that there would be consequences for this later. She somehow felt that her presence was still needed.

A thick scroll appeared in the hold of Sarutobi's still body. The four ninja spirits looked at it. "I will allow you _one minute_, to give instructions to your men, Sarutobi Daisuke. This scroll is to be delivered to the _Shishou no Ryuuki_, by Takamaru Akina, as soon as possible. Until then, your body will be put into a comatose state. Once the scroll has been properly delivered, and I will know the instant it does, I will return your soul to your body. Is that understood, Sarutobi Daisuke, Takamaru Akina?"

It was then that the three Hokage noticed the fourth, much smaller figure hovering a small distance away. Akina saw their shocked faces (and she still couldn't get used to _seeing_) and shook her head. Flying closer, Akina hovered next to Sarutobi, to 'stand' in front of the higher being.

She bowed to the God of Death. "Yes Shinigami-sama. I understand." The Third was quick to do the same.

The Shinigami nodded. "Sarutobi Daisuke...your minute starts now." The chain tugged his soul back into his body, and time resumed itself. The ANBU who had been guarding his highest commanding officer's body was shocked to look down and find the Sandaime with his eyes fluttering open, holding a thick scroll that came out of nowhere. The wizened old man mouthed a few words, coughing out blood. The masked ninja was quick to crouch and stare hard at his mouth.

_'Takamaru Akina is to deliver scroll to Shishou no Ryuuki. Will be in coma until then. Tsunade to be Godaime Hokage.'_ The owl-masked ANBU nodded to show that he got the message, and watched with a detached sense of desolation as the eyes closed and the breathing slowed down.

"Akina-chan," said the Sandaime in a stern voice, once he had returned to the spirit plane, chain and all. The Shinigami had already left with his two charges. "How are you and the God of Death connected?" he paused, noticing something now that the girl was looking directly at him again. "And why are your eyes a darker green?"

Akina had been about to answer, but her mouth snapped shut and her eyes widened fractionally. With a forceful yank, her spirit body was sent careening backwards towards her own body, disappearing from the spirit plane as it went.

On the building's rooftop, Akina's head jerked up with a silent gasp, darkness now shrouding everything once more. Then she felt the pain that was searing every vein and every muscle in her body, gritting her teeth. She was cold, and still shivering, her body trying to recover that warmth. By then Orochimaru had escaped with the help of his Gate Guardians.

The owl-masked ANBU appeared by her side. "Takamaru Akina?" She nodded shakily, trembling as she used the wall to try to stand up. Once upright, she let go of the wall for a moment, swayed on the spot, then leaned on the wall again. The trembling stopped as she forced her body to be still, but she could not hide the tenseness of her body, as the pain was still there, clouding her mind and threatening to take over.

"...d of...istance?"

She heard a ringing in her ears and could not answer. She lost feeling in her body and distantly heard a small thud as her body collapsed on the concrete. Akina only had enough time for one thought to filter through before she lost total consciousness.

_...I better be promoted after all this..._

* * *

Alright, finally done! And don't worry, you'll get the low-down on what happened with Gaara, Naruto, and Sasuke in the next chapter. There was just nowhere to put it with everything that was happening at the end. 

As an extra little tidbit, I was gonna have Akina think _...Damn._ as her last thought, but realized that she wasn't the type to curse. Actually, have I ever made her curse?


	15. Tails

All right then, to the next chapter! I've gotten tired of going over all of the grammar mistakes, it gets boring after awhile.

So anyways, the number of reviews kinda disappointed me. I mean, only three? There were so many pushing towards the update. I guess it was the chapter title? Maybe some people thought it was a filler or an Author's Note chapter? Which is against the guidelines, by the way...

Yup. So I hope you all weren't too lost (or lost at all, really) at the conclusion of the last chapter, with Akina's scene there, especially the part in her mind scape. We'll be exploring it later on, but not now.

**Disclaimer? I don't own Naruto...** I am _seriously_ questioning whether or not I have to do this every chapter...I think I skipped this on accident a few times in earlier chapters...

"Talking"

_Thinking_

"_Telepathy through mind seal/jutsu"_

("Animals talking" / _"Telepathy with animals through mind seal/jutsu"_ )

"**Demonic Language" / 'Demon talking telepathically with their jinchuuriki'**

_'Miscellaneous things such as signs, ANBU sign language, letters...'_

* * *

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

**:;Seeing the Truth;:**

**Chapter 15: Tails**

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Kouseki paced back and forth along the hospital hallway, too anxious to be cooped up in her team's hospital room, yet also too worried to be away from the two. So she settled for pacing, weaving through the random rushes of nurses and medic-nin here and there. One furry ear was always facing the direction of the room, and the other rotating randomly. Her hackles were raised.

_Dammit, itoko, where in the nine levels of hell are you?!_ Usually, she was able to sense her younger cousin's spirit aura, letting her know Akina's location at all times. But not now. Right now, all she could sense was that Akina was alive and safe, but in a place she could not set foot (or paw) in. This irritated the wolf demon greatly.

"Kouseki." She let out a low grunt to let Kakashi know that she was listening, but did not stop padding along the tiled floor. "An owl just came in." The wolf stopped and perked her head up to look at the jounin, who was leaning against the open door frame, book in his hand as always. "It doesn't look like anything serious, since it isn't panicked."

She nodded and slipped into the room, where both boys were sitting up in their beds, staring into space pensively. A common barn owl was perched on the ledge of the open window. He nodded at her as the demoness walked up to sit in front of it. ("Kouseki-sama. The other groups say that the village has been secured. The villagers have just been let out of the bunkers. The Hyuuga, the green one, and the sensei are safe.") He paused and tilted his head. ("Have you found out anything new concerning Akina-sama's location?") The dangerous look on the canine's face seemed to answer the owl, because he just nodded and flew off with a polite farewell.

"Kouseki-chan?" ventured Naruto, his voice a little strained. "What did it say?" Sasuke's dull black eyes drifted over to the wolf, who stuck her head out of the window.

("The villagers have been released again...not that you could understand me now.")

Indeed, shortly after the purple barrier had disappeared, Akina's mind had also disconnected from the mind seal. And with it went the ability to understand animals and their ability to sense her mind. The boys were as clueless about the girl's location as the others. And this fact didn't help with Kouseki's mood.

Naruto had gone quiet, reminded yet again of Akina's absence. Blue eyes and black eyes met for a second before the gazes separated. The two couldn't talk telepathically either. They could still sense the connection between them, but nothing could get through. This puzzled them.

"Hatake Kakashi-san."

Slate gray eyes looked up from the porno pages. An ANBU had come into the room, unnoticed by everyone but Kakashi. Kouseki _would_ have noticed, if she had been a bit calmer. "Hmm?"

"I believe you want to know where your third student is?"

Three heads snapped up in his direction, and they all immediately took in the ANBU's appearance. Average height. Black cloak on. Male. Owl mask with red spirals scattered around. Looks a little burnt. Naruto nodded mentally in satisfaction. _If he doesn't tell us where Akina-chan is, I bet we could take him, if we triple-teamed him. He doesn't look so tough!_ he thought, deliberately ignoring the fact that the guy was an ANBU.

Kakashi closed his Icha Icha Paradise and pocketed it, nodding. "Yeah. Usually she would have at least checked in with us by now."

The ANBU nodded. "Yes, well, unfortunately, she is physically unable to do that right now. I took her to our Hospital Wing, and last I checked, she was in a coma."

Naruto, Kouseki, and Sasuke's bodies stiffened for a moment. Kakashi's eyes took on a more serious look. There was no question as to which 'Hospital Wing' he was referring to. But Akina wouldn't have been taken there unless her condition were the ANBU's business.

Sasuke refrained from demanding to be taken to her, knowing the power of those classified as ANBU. He had first-hand experience after all. _Itachi_ had been a Captain. Naruto gritted his teeth, but stayed silent. These were the people that helped him out when the haters got too rough. He held a bit of respect for them for that. Kouseki's gold eyes stayed focused on the mask, but she did nothing.

Their sensei was nodding inwardly in approval of their response. "Can you take us to her?"

The owl masked ANBU, who had been curiously watching their reactions, nodded. "I was about to suggest that, Hatake-san." The tension in the room seemed to decrease a little. "I will take the girl's wolf companion. Hatake-san, you will take Uchiha and Uzumaki if they are fit enough for a bit of travel." The looks in their eyes dared him to say that the were _not_ fit to travel, so Kakashi agreed. "I will have to place a genjutsu on you all as a safety precaution. Please do not resist."

He joined his two sleeves together so that he could conceal the hand seals. A few moments later, another nod was given, and he walked over to the awaiting wolf to put a hand on her head. Naruto slipped his right arm out of the sling that kept it elevated, cradling the appendage that was encased in the cast. He walked over to Sasuke, who had gotten up easily enough. His left arm, elbow down, was in a brace for the overuse of the Chidori.

"Hatake Kakashi-san," started the ANBU. The silver-haired ninja looked at him after putting a hand on each of the boys' shoulders. "You should know which room to go to."

"Yeah." He executed the Shunshin no jutsu before Naruto could ask his question. And once the smoke had cleared, questioning his sensei didn't seem so important anymore.

Naruto flinched when he first caught sight of his team mate, and his sensei couldn't really blame him. Akina was laying in the bed, hooked up to a machine that kept track of her steady, yet slow heart rate. Part of her face was obscured a little because of the oxygen mask but they could still see the tired, yet oddly relaxed non-expression. The skin of her face, arms, and neck were paler than normal—almost white. They didn't need to look under the blanket to know that the rest of her skin was the same.

She looked horrible.

Naruto staggered over, suddenly extremely exhausted, to sit in one of the bed-side chairs. Sasuke did the same (the sitting, that is), slowly taking in his team mate's condition. Kouseki, who had gone to the girl immediately upon arriving, laid her head by the girl's legs, pointing it towards Akina's pale face.

A sad sigh was released from Kakashi's lips, and he shook his head. Of course, he'd seen people in conditions like this already—worse, even. But he didn't expect to see one of his little students like this so soon.

The ANBU allowed them all a minute more of silence. He made a few unnoticeable hand gestures.

_'I need to talk with you privately.'_

Kakashi just nodded and followed him out after giving the rest of Team Seven a head's up. No one had answered back, though. Once the two were in an empty, warded hospital room, the ANBU sighed and itched the back of his head. The professionalism was dropped.

"First thing's first: her condition. We have no idea why she's in a coma, but when she was first examined, her nerves were fried, she had a severe migraine, and she was sweating and shivering uncontrollably. She's stable now, and she should be healed in a few days, but we don't know when she'll wake up." He stopped to give Kakashi some time for it to sink in, before continuing in a low voice. "She showed up a little after Sandaime-sama and Orochimaru started fighting to help out. It is very likely that without her unusual assistance, Sandaime-sama would have died Yondaime-sama's death."

"...Unusual assistance?"

"Yes, much unusual!" His voice had taken on an excited tone. "She bunkered down on a roof a couple buildings away, floated a huge pack of exploding seals into our building, then slipped into a deep meditative state. Next thing you know, the roof underneath the four Oto-nin exploded and they were trapped in fire tornadoes! And all throughout this, I sensed this...otherworld presence moving around us. Most unusual!"

Kakashi, who had been filing away this new information about his student, paid some more attention at this repeated comment, which had been said with a higher amount of enthusiasm. "No, you can't 'examine' her, Awase," he said blandly.

There was a disappointed sigh. "Very well. I'll leave her alone." There was a small amount of defeat in his voice, but then the emotion returned. "I'd really object if she isn't promoted to chuunin or rewarded in some way."

"Awase."

"Yeah?"

"Is there anything else you need to tell me? You still haven't explained why she's in ANBU HQ instead of Konoha Hospital."

"Yes, well, I was getting to that...seems I got carried away." He shrugged. Then the jovial tone transformed. It became serious and professional once more. "Moments before falling into his coma, a small scroll appeared in Hokage-sama's hands. Hokage-sama's last standing orders were, in these exact words: 'Takamaru Akina is to deliver scroll to Shishou no Ryuuki. Will be in coma until then. Tsunade to be Godaime Hokage.' In other words, the awakening of our Sandaime Hokage depends on _her_ awakening and delivery. That is why she is here."

"...I see."

"The day after Takamaru Akina wakes up, she will be given her mission and sent out. As it will take an unpredictable amount of time, she will likely be allowed to have someone come along with her." The fact that she would take Kouseki was not acknowledged. They were being professional, after all. They couldn't just assume anything.

Normally, for a delivery this important, an entire ANBU platoon (four people) would be sent out, maybe two, but this scenario was different. Since the Sandaime Hokage had used the Shiki Fuujin (Dead Demon Consuming Seal), the Shinigami had been summoned. That fact alone screwed everything up. The Sandaime's soul had been returned to his body, instead of devoured, and his 'last words' had to do with the scroll that _mysteriously_ appeared in his hand. It would be best not to twist the orders that had most likely come directly from the God of Death himself. It just wasn't smart.

"All of this information is classified, of course. Her team mates are to be told that she is being sent out of the village on a simple delivery and guarding mission, since every available ninja needs to be used to get the village back on its feet." The ANBU's posture relaxed again. "They won't notice that she's gone much, though. All of us will be buried up to our eyeballs in missions. They won't have the energy to worry."

Kakashi took out his book again, sighing. "But Naruto will." His silver eyebrow went up. "I'm guessing you haven't written your report yet?"

A sweat drop appeared on the back of the ANBU's head. "Ahh...no." He glanced at the wall clock. 6:45 pm. "If I hurry and get it done now, I'll have time to go out to eat!" He nodded his head respectfully to his sempai. "Sayonara!" And disappeared in the universal puff of smoke.

With another sigh, Kakashi deactivated the wards and wandered back into Akina's room, to see everyone still in the same positions. They looked up as he closed the door.

There was silence for a moment until Naruto broke it. "Well...?" he said, impatiently.

Kakashi lifted up his unoccupied hand to scratch the back of his head. "He said that Akina was helping out with the barrier and helped the ANBU bring it down. Apparently, it was because of her sacrifice that Hokage-sama is still alive, although he's extremely injured right now. They felt indebted to her and brought her here instead. There's also the fact that her condition was unusual." He pointed at the clipboard hanging off the footboard. Sasuke grabbed it and flipped through the reports. "We get fifteen minutes, then we have to leave." He ignored the loud protests and gestured towards the snarling wolf. "Kouseki here gets to stay overnight, since she's, err, 'family' ."

The low, threatening rumbling stopped. The bushy tail started wagging. Kouseki was happy. Naruto was not.

"WHAT?!"

"Naruto, I don't make the rules here. The ANBU are extremely busy and don't like it when outsiders come into their territory. Actually, we probably won't be let back in unless you can grab the owl-masked ANBU again and get him to take you—which I highly doubt."

The demon vessel had been about to open his mouth when the low voice of his only conscious team mate intercepted it. "He's right, Naruto. Besides, Akina can take care of herself. Now stop screeching. Even if this room is warded against disturbing _other_ patients _outside_, you are disturbing _us_, who are _inside_."

Kakashi's only visible eye turned into an upside-down 'U' as Naruto responded, louder than before. _There. Now if Akina would wake up, everything would be back to normal. Annoyingly loud, arrogant, quiet, and violent._

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

_'Beep... ... ... Beep... ... ...Beep... ... ...Beep... ... ...'_

_What an irritating noise._

"—art beat is still stable. Her nervous system is back to normal. Now we just have to wait for her to wake up." A muffled, unknown female voice.

"I see. Thank you. You may leave." _This voice is familiar. _

"Hai." The door opens, then closes. Akina struggled to clear the fuzziness surrounding her mind.

"Takamaru Akina." _Ah. The Commander. Which means I'm in the ANBU's Hospital Wing._ "Once you get yourself relatively functional again, knock on the door. I'll be waiting outside to escort you to another room." The door opened and closed again, after Akina had nodded. She didn't even question how the Commander had known she was awake, even though she had kept her breathing and heartbeat slow as if she were still in the coma.

Her nose wrinkled a bit. It smelled strongly of anesthetics and cleanliness, with an undercurrent of death. She sat herself up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. A sharp prickling sensation drew her attention to her left arm. She removed the needle and stood up, pushing away the dizziness from the blood rushing out of her head. Akina tilted her head as she reconnected herself to the elements. The air was stifled here, but she was still able to find her clothes to change into.

She tied her hitai-ate back over her closed eyes and went to knock on the door. It opened, and Akina let herself be Shunshined to another room. Upon appearing, Akina immediately sensed the Sandaime's spirit hovering above his still body. He was trying to talk to her, but she didn't hear anything. She frowned inwardly. _That's strange. I shouldn't be able to know that he's speaking—just that he's there. An aftereffect?_

"All medic-nin and nurses, please leave the room." The door opened, then closed. Only the Commander, the Hokage, and Akina were left in the room. The Sandaime had stopped trying to speak, somehow knowing that she couldn't understand him.

"Takamaru Akina." She tilted her head in question. "First and foremost, I wish to thank you for your assistance last week." _So I've been out for a week?_ "I won't bother asking what you did. Just know that you've been given a mission by Hokage-sama, which you are to start tomorrow at dawn." Her latest memories re-surfaced. Shinigami. Soul projection. Backlash. Pain. "Take the scroll in Hokage-sama's hand. It looks like he'll only let it go for you. He wants you to deliver it to the Shishou no Ryuuki so that he could wake up. Or rather, the Shinigami wants you to."

Akina approached the bed, feeling the gazes of both the Commander and Sarutobi's spirit. She grasped the Sandaime's left hand, which was gripping the scroll tightly, and gently uncurled his old fingers. The small scroll was lifted out of his hand, but a few seconds after, the scroll disappeared from Akina's right hand. Her palm tingled, as if it had just been numb. The ANBU Commander moved closer to stand next to her. Somehow she knew that the Shinigami had sealed the scroll into her hand. Akina traced her palm, feeling a seal in the shape of a dragon, its body contorted into a circular shape, before it sunk underneath her skin.

"Hmm, that's interesting," muttered the ANBU. Akina didn't reply. He continued on as if nothing had happened. "You will be allowed one companion on this mission, if you wish it." He handed her a mission scroll. "This is your cover. Report to the Main Gate, where someone will introduce themselves as your client. He'll accompany you until you're out of sight of the village." She felt him tilt his head. "This will be a B-rank mission, with a C-rank mission as a cover-up, considering the consequences of failing. Just finish it as quickly and quietly as possible, then report back."

She nodded as the Commander vanished, leaving her alone with the prone body and moving spirit of the Sandaime Hokage. Akina sat down in the bed-side chair and let her thoughts drift away. A presence at the back of her mind told her that the jade egg was still attached to the tendrils of white fire. But something seemed off with the egg.

"—hear me?"

Akina placed a hand on the Hokage's arm. Her body gave no reaction about having heard his spirit talk. She felt Sarutobi shift into a sitting position above his body.

"I'll take that as a yes. Now, when you get back, I expect an explanation about all of this. You and Kouseki are hiding something, and I'll need to know what that something is. Being connected with Shinigami-sama is a serious thing."

Her grip on his arm strengthened for a moment before she stood up and bowed towards the comatose body. She lifted up her hands and called up her chakra again. It obeyed as if she were never in a coma, and she murmured, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu," before teleporting away with the nondescript ANBU clone.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Deep in the Forest of Death, Kouseki's head shot up in surprise. The smoke from the Shunshin cleared to reveal Akina, alone, as the ANBU clone had been expelled upon arriving. She'd only made it as a safety precaution.

("AKINA-CHAN!") An excited wolf demoness rushed over to rub her head against the girl, who braced herself to keep from being knocked over. The other animals that had been in the clearing left to give them some time alone. ("You've missed out on a shit-load of stuff!") She breathed in the scent of her cousin, mentally assuring herself that the younger youkai was fine.

Akina resigned herself to the fussing and held still. "Kouseki. What happened to everyone?"

The wolf stepped back and sat down on her haunches. She tilted her great black head. ("Give me somewhere to start. Like I said, a shit-load of stuff happened.")

"What happened to Sasuke?"

Kouseki nodded thoughtfully. ("Ah, you caught that, did you?") Yes, of course she did. She was now experiencing the same feeling that Naruto and Sasuke had had when Akina was in a coma. She couldn't get through to Sasuke's mind. ("Well, a couple days ago, Itachi and Kisame broke into the village, knocked the scarecrow into a coma with the Tsukuyomi, then took off. Sasuke found out about his brother being in the village and he chased after him. The gaki found his aniki in a nearby village, and _he_ was knocked into a coma the same way his sensei was.")

The line of Akina's mouth tilted downwards a little. "They were after Naruto?"

The wolf's lips curled into a grin. ("Yeah. According to one of the tori, Itachi said that they were after the Yondaime's legacy. Three guesses who _that_ is?")

Akina just shook her head and reactivated their telepathic connection, which was similar to that of Team Seven's. The two swapped memories of the major events of the past week. Both stayed silent for several minutes, deep in thought.

(_"I would feel like smacking Shinigami-sama if he wasn't who he is."_) She shuddered suddenly as a chill ran down her back. (_"OI! I didn't really mean it!"_) The chill disappeared, but she knew that the God of Death was still watching. (_"Geeze. Don't get your robes tied up in a knot."_) She ruffled up her fur in agitation. Kouseki stubbornly ignored the hint of amusement she felt from Akina's mind.

"_It wasn't his fault that I hadn't trained enough with the Soul Projection."_ Akina paused for a moment and tilted her head before continuing. _"Did you have fun playing hop-scotch on people's heads?"_

Kouseki sniffed and lifted up her head. (_"Yes I did, thanks for asking. Are you going to take me on your mission?"_)

"_Ah. I think I can do this on my own, Kouseki. I'm delivering this scroll to myself, after all."_

Her older cousin followed along her line of thinking and grinned. (_"And I guess when the two wake up, they'll need me to help them get better, right?"_) She nodded to herself and continued. (_"And Naruto-baka needs someone to keep him from worrying his head off."_) She deliberately left her own worry unacknowledged.

Akina shook her head again. _"If I stay out for longer than expected, I expect you to take care of things here."_

(_"Yeah, yeah, responsibility, blah blah, no terrorizing, blah blah."_)

The Head of the Forest of Death's Tiger Clan slipped into the clearing. Both females bowed to him in greeting. He nodded and sat down in front of them, easily towering over the two disguised demons by a few feet. ("Akina-sama, Kouseki-sama. The funeral for the fallen ninja is today. Those who fought wish to attend.")

Akina nodded. "I will accompany you."

("Arigatou gozaimasu.")

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Many heads turned to gawk as Akina led a procession of beasts towards the center of the village. Next to her walked Kouseki, and directly behind them were the Heads of the Bear Clan and Panther Clan. In the center of the group of Clan Heads were the Fox Head and the Snake Head, for their protection. As they neared the Hokage Tower, where the funeral was to be held, Sarutobi Asuma jumped down in front of her.

"Takamaru Akina. What's going on here?"

The Cat Head in the middle of the group sniffed indignantly, but she was ignored. Akina's head tilted to the side. "They wish to pay respects to the dead, Asuma-sensei."

The Sandaime's son nodded. He had already known, but he just wanted to make it clear to the others. She followed him up onto the roof of the Tower, where the other ninja were standing in their black clothes. This funeral was optional, but most of the population had shown up anyways. The animals teamed up to get up on the roofs surrounding the Hokage Tower, and only the Heads that had actually fought joined the ninja in front of the picture frames, next to Akina.

Tiger. Panther. Mountain Lion. Leopard. Hawk. Eagle. Owl. Wolf. Bear.

Akina stood next to the other Rookies and the Inuzuka, ignoring the inquisitive gazes of the other ninja. Kiba gripped her shoulder for a moment before stepping back into place.

As Koharu and Homura stepped up to begin the funeral, Akina split some of her attention to the mind seal that she shared with Sasuke and Naruto. She nudged at the link connecting her to Sasuke, but felt nothing at the other end, so she let it be.

"—o honor these brave ninja that—"

Akina sensed that Naruto's mind was still up and running, but very far away. She pushed at it roughly, in order to actually reach his mind. The distance that the force had to cover was huge, so by the time it'd get to Naruto, it'd probably only feel like a sharp poke. She detected a spike of surprise and happiness from his end (which came really fast, pointing to an insane amount of them), then came the actual thoughts.

"_Are you guys okay?!..."_ the volume was much smaller than she was used to because of the distance, but she could still hear the tiredness in his voice.

"_Sensei and Sasuke are stable. I will be going on a mission tomorrow."_ She made sure to give a bit of extra force when she sent off this thought. Naruto, who didn't know that you could do this, had simply screamed his thought as loud as he could to get it across. It worked, but Akina was not the type of person to scream, in thought or not.

"—lace your flowers on the table."

One by one, Konoha-nin stepped up to pay their respects to their fallen comrades. Once the Inuzuka had gone, Akina walked over to the table, carrying a bouquet of white lilies. The animal Heads followed her silently. After she placed her bouquet on the table, they all bowed as one. All around the Hokage Tower roof, the other animals did the same.

_I wish you all a safe journey into the afterlife._

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Takamaru Akina landed silently in front of the chuunin who had the morning guard duty. One of them was Kamizuki Izumo, who yawned widely, before shaking his head and excusing his rudeness.

"Gomen." He stopped and stared at her for a few moments while she took out her 'mission scroll'. "Hey, aren't you the genin that never got to fight in the Finals?"

Akina nodded, and she waited as Izumo checked over the C-rank scroll. A middle-aged man walked over to her. "Ohayo gozaimasu, Takamaru-san. Are we ready to go?"

Izumo handed the scroll back to the girl, nodding. "Now you are. Have a safe journey you two!"

Both of the travelers nodded and set off, walking at a leisurely pace. The man hummed a pleasant tune, but when Konoha disappeared behind the tree-line, he stopped walking. Akina dipped her head to him in thanks before he simply disappeared using sheer speed. She jumped up into the trees and paced herself, concentrating in distancing herself from her village.

_If I had really been escorting that man, it would have taken one to two weeks to get to his destination at best, due to the slow civilian pace. _She started heading in the direction of Kusa no kuni, to the border village that the 'middle-aged man' had wanted to go to. _Coming back should only take a couple days, depending on my speed._

She started spreading out her sensory range, taking in the differing life forms and the elements. A monkey came close and started to jump along with her. ("Ohayo, Akina-san!") She was not under her protection, but the respect was still there. So '-san' was used instead of '-sama'.

Akina murmured a greeting, still focusing on her surroundings. The monkey didn't seem offended by the lack of energy. All the beasts knew of Akina's demeanor.

("Akina-san. We just wanted to warn you that there are two ninja hanging around the area between Konoha and the village where the fox boy's brother was taken out.")

_This_ got her attention. Her thoughts instantly went to the Akatsuki pair, and she snapped out her sensory range to the max. She was in the heart of that area right now. And she couldn't turn back without completing her mission. But she couldn't risk bringing out the scroll with two S-Class nuke-nin in the area. Akina settled with at least finding the general location of the two, then heading away from them as fast as she could.

She turned towards the monkey. "Thank you, saru-san. If you find them, please have someone tell me."

The monkey nodded and hopped off, leaving Akina to engross herself in scanning her surroundings. Ten minutes and five miles later, she found that she couldn't sense any other chakra signatures or spirit auras, but the forest seemed oddly quiet, telling her that she was still in danger. Akina stopped on a thick tree branch and sat herself down with her back against trunk.

_I've only been out of the village for fifteen minutes, and now this goes and happens..._ She pushed away her feelings of slight disgruntlement and focused on sifting through the different smells and sounds. Akina ignored the Konohan scents and sounds behind her (Kouseki just snorted at something/one). She didn't really expect to find them by sound, since they were high-leveled ninja. Of course they would be skilled with keeping silent. Kisame and Itachi's scents would also be overpowered or disguised, even if Akina would have been able to recognize Itachi's, being a team mate of Sasuke's. Blood brothers had similar scents, after all.

So that left her elemental manipulation. She took out a map from her pouch to use as a cover as she focused entirely on gliding with the wind. It was going east, so she allowed her mind to follow along with it, feeling as the wind swept through every nook and cranny for miles and miles. Akina nudged the direction of the wind a bit, and she examined everything in the northeast. This continued for about thirty minutes, as the speed of the wind was gentle and slow.

She frowned as the wind parted around a small abandoned hut to the northwest, many miles away. But it wasn't so abandoned anymore. There was a fire going in front of it. The ANBU trainee sent another breeze and waited until it reached the hut. There was an oddly shaped, bandaged item leaning against the wall of the hut. Something human-shaped was sitting on the roof, eating a cooked fish.

Akina double-checked that her chakra signature, spirit aura, and scent were all almost nonexistent, then she focused on tweaking them a little. Her chakra signature raised to that of a wild adolescent wolf's, and she connected with her wolf demon side. Her hair got a little bit more spiky, and her eyes also throbbed a little. Claws sprouted from her fingers and toes. Akina took off her sandals and jacket, sealing them away into a scroll. Everything else that identified her as a ninja were sealed away into the Shinigami's Ryuuki seal after a second thought.

With an internal sigh, Akina jumped onto the ground and got on all fours, feeling herself connect with the element of earth. She moved forward a few feet, getting used to walking the way of a wolf, before throwing back her head and letting out a greeting howl, channeling her inner wolf. It echoed through the morning sky, and it sounded completely authentic (because it was).

((AN: No, she did not transform into a freakin' wolf. My sister thought she did. Grumble. Grumble.))

("I wish to travel with you, my brothers,") she had said.

An answering howl came back, from a couple miles away. ("We will accept you. Come find us.")

She 'trotted' in the direction of that howl, keeping half of her attention on the wind blowing in the hut's direction. The ninja on the roof had turned his head in her direction, and it stayed in that position for ¾ of her 'walk' to the local wolf pack, which took around five minutes.

The alpha pair greeted her at the edge of a river. The male was kind-hearted and middle-aged, and his mate was affectionate, yet firm. This pack had very good connections with the pack in Konoha, as well as Kouseki. The two youkai had passed through their territory to get to Konoha, around seven years ago.

Akina lowered her body, crept forward, and nuzzled the side of the alpha male's neck. She backed away and kept her head down. Amusement ran through the auras of the wolf pack members, which numbered at eight.

The alphaess cocked her head to the side. ("Akina-chan? What is the meaning of this very un-human-like behavior?")

The ninja shook her head from side to side, letting some animal-like nervousness show. ("There are two extremely dangerous village traitors nearby,") she started, slowly, as the low growls and body gestures were unfamiliar, yet familiar to her. The pack let out sounds of anger. Disloyalty was looked down upon amongst the wolves. ("I wish to get past them unnoticed.")

The beta pair nodded and looked at their leaders, who nodded as well. As one, the entire wolf pack congregated around Akina and started rubbing against her, to make her smell as if she were one of them. A teenage wolf did this the most, as Akina would be posing as his sister. After this process was finished, the alpha male, Zenrei, let out a low bark. His mate, Makenki, echoed this.

("Let's move out!")

Akina moved along side her 'brother', making sure not to leave behind any tracks. This wouldn't cause any suspicion, as they were moving over grass, with only a few patches of moist dirt here and there. She avoided stepping in them.

Her 'brother' shook his head and eyed her with curiosity. Akina felt his gaze, but waited for him to speak. ("Akina-san. I've never heard of a ningen being able to speak wolf. How in the hell are _you_ able to do it?")

The Elder of the pack shook the fur of his body. ("This young one has been raised by Kouseki, the wolf guardian of Konoha. Do not be disrespectful, pup.")

The younger wolf turned his head away. ("Yes, Elder. I apologize.") He did not ask about the closing of her eyes, though Akina knew that he wanted to. At around 1 ½ years old, his rebellious side was coming out. He would try to ask again once the Elder was not paying attention, if they had the time.

But Akina didn't really care at the moment. She was keeping track of who she knew was Hoshigaki Kisame. But where was Uchiha Itachi? He might be resting inside the hut, but she couldn't be sure. Just to be safe, she also kept track of everything around her in a 25-mile radius.

("Zenrei-sama,") Akina growled out. She felt the air shift as the alpha male tilted his head. ("The two traitors are in the abandoned ningen den to the northwest.")

The large gray wolf nodded. ("I know of it. We will give it a wide berth.")

The female monkey from before appeared again, jumping out of the trees and landing on Akina's back. ("Akina-san, we're worried about you. Do you want us to send a message to the wolf Guardian?")

Akina let out an affirmative grunt. Her throat felt a little bit sore. She was definitely not used to making these noises, let alone this amount of noise in general. ("Yes. Tell Kouseki that Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Itachi are still in the area. I'm trying to avoid them, but the mission might take longer than estimated.")

After the shock of hearing her speak wolf had worn off, the monkey prattled on for a little bit. ("Hai, Akina-san! Consider it done!") And she left, still chattering nervously.

The group fell silent as they moved steadily to the northeast, looking to be the average wolf pack on the lookout for a good hunt, all except the human look-alike. But one only would have noticed this oddity if they had actually spotted them. The girl would have detected anyone that would have gotten that close and high-tailed it out of there.

_8:00 am_, observed Akina. The connection to Naruto opened up again, telling her that he had woken up. Knowing that she would have to explain herself later, she cut herself off from the boy. It wouldn't do to get distracted.

Akina tilted her head upwards and scented the air again. Soon they would be getting to the edge of this wolf pack's territory. The hut that the two nuke-nin were resting in was located at the edge of their land. There, she would have to make contact with the next wolf pack, if she wanted to continue in this way.

Kisame jumped down from the roof and removed all traces of the fire. As the small breeze started to die out, the door opened, but Akina couldn't get a clear sense of who or what was inside. When the next small gust of wind blew over the hut a couple seconds later, Kisame was gone. This wind flowed gently into the innards of the hut, but the only that revealed any occupation was the residual warmth on the small cot. Akina could not sense or feel them anywhere, and she didn't like that.

Her wolf demon side snarled silently, loathing the feeling of being the hunted, and not the hunter. Akina pacified it before barking lowly up ahead. ("We must hasten our pace, Zenrei-sama, Makenki-sama.")

She spread out her sensory range once more to the max, now keeping one part of her mind connected with the earth as well, though it was much weaker than the one with the wind. Five miles away, a fox emerged from its den and said its hello to the day, but Akina muffled those natural occurrences. What she wanted to detect were the minute air distortions that only happened when a ninja was traveling quickly and stealthily.

Their speed quickened to a trot. The line of her lips tightened as the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Akina suppressed the shiver of anticipation that threatened to run down her back. Her inner wolf reared its head again and pushed against the mental barriers that confined it. Danger, it said. Take out the threat, it said.

_No._ Her head tilted to her left as she felt something brush against the edges of her awareness, then leave just as fleetingly. The fur of the wolves around her bristled at the sudden movement, but they kept moving. Akina's wolf demon blood started to run a bit thicker through her veins, responding to the hunt that she was participating in. Take out the threat, it repeated, insistent.

Calm thoughts circulated throughout her mind, soothing the girl and her demon alter-ego. She couldn't exactly blame it for feeling the way it was feeling. Wolves didn't like having their packs threatened (Naruto) or hurt (Kakashi and Sasuke). It also knew that they'd try again in the future. Taking out the threat as soon as possible would have been logical...had the threats not been S-Class ninja. It puzzled Akina, how her other self could not comprehend this.

("One of the Guardians wishes to pass through your territory,") howled Zenrei. The rest of the pack congregated around Akina, touching softly her with their snouts in farewell.

("We welcome the honorable Guardian into our lands,") came a voice, from a long distance away. The girl placed a hand on each of the alphas' heads before taking to the trees once more, the feeling of the wind parting around her body, simmering down the wolf's insistent suggestions into an irritating itch in the far reaches of her mind-scape.

Akina set her pace at a high-chuunin, low-jounin speed, resisting from tensing and un-tensing her muscles as someone, or someones, kept on grazing the edges of her sensory range at random intervals for the next couple of hours—teasing her, testing her. She couldn't allow herself to get caught.

The roar of falling water 10 miles ahead alerted her to the major landmark that distinguished the border between the Fire Country and the Rice Country. The Valley of the End. And somehow...somehow, she knew that it had once been the haunt of two restless spirits, one of which she had encountered over a week before. Akina could only assume that the other was Uchiha Madara, but that one had long since left these grounds. There was something unholy and vile about this bridge, this area, but she brushed off the feeling.

The sound of the water had reawakened the spirit of her inner wolf, but it didn't do anything, choosing to observe with its lips curled back into a snarl. With an inner sigh, Akina resigned herself to being unable to lose her shadows, but that didn't mean that she couldn't try to make them lose interest in her. Inside her mind-scape, furry ears perked up at this change of plans.

Over the next week, the ANBU trainee/genin slowly circled around the edges of Hi no kuni, making contact with the beasts and befriending them, practicing speaking in the language of the wild wolves. These beasts sent back a stream of messages to the wolf Guardian in Konoha, keeping her up to date with the girl's status.

One thing bothered her, though. A few days after the Valley of the End, she was sure that Itachi's eyes would have healed from the repeated use of the Tsukuyomi. Akina had thought that it was the only reason that the Akatsuki pair had not tried to capture her. Yes, they could indeed kill her rather quickly, but capturing her would be much harder. She was an enigma to all, having never shown her true power—underestimating her could result in a fatal mistake. They needed her alive if they wanted to use her as bait for Naruto.

But they didn't even try. They just kept trailing her, every so often touching on her sensory range. Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame were observing her.

Why?

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

A beautiful blond with a particularly large bosom lifted her hand from the jounin's forehead, watching in satisfaction as dark gray eyes opened blearily, taking in the surroundings before focusing on the woman's face.

"Tsunade-hime?" His voice was raspy from disuse. She pulled him into an upright position and gave him a cup of water, the contents of said cup disappearing as soon as it had been gripped.

"Hatake Kakashi," she greeted evenly. Another blond head peaked out from behind her, and Kakashi was put on the receiving end of a bright, relieved grin that seemed to light up the atmosphere a few notches.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" The happiness in his voice was obvious. So was the absence of the rest of his team.

"Naruto. What happened to everyone else?"

The jinchuuriki's mood visibly dimmed. Tsunade cast him a worried glance before checking over the jounin sensei's health. She stayed quiet, opting to observe their interaction and not interfere.

"Well...Sasuke-teme is in another room. He was hit with the same jutsu as you, and 'baa-chan's gonna heal him next." He received a firm smack to the head for his troubles. His hands flew up to tend to the new bump, eyes squinting in pain. "Kouseki-chan is in the bastard's room, keeping out the fan girls so that we can get through to heal him faster." A loud, rumbling growl could be heard, followed by high-pitched screams. Tsunade's mouth twitched into an amused smirk as sweat drops appeared on the back of the males' heads. "Usually she enjoys her daily terrorizing, but Kouseki-chan just seems pissed off lately." Because Akina was still on her non-village mission alone? But they didn't dare say that out loud. Kouseki had freakishly acute hearing.

"And I'm guessing Akina is still out..."

A small nod was given at this as Tsunade placed the clipboard back on the footboard. "Yeah."

Tsunade cleared her throat, causing the two others to look at her. "Kakashi, I just cleared you with a clean bill of health, but you'll still have to stay here overnight for observation, just to make sure. Afterwards, you'll have to refrain from strenuous actions for a week." She turned to Naruto as he let out a whoop. "You wanted me to heal your Uchiha team mate, right?" He nodded eagerly. "Well, come on then. I don't have all day, brat."

Naruto grinned at her, then turned to his fatigued sensei. "I'll tell Sasuke-teme that you're awake, 'kay?"

A tired nod was given, and Naruto grabbed the Hokage's wrist and pulled her towards the origin of the disturbing noise. As they went up a flight of stairs and turned a corner, Naruto had to release his grip and dodge to the side as two civilian teenage girls his age stumbled over themselves in their haste to flee. The boy shook his head in fond exasperation when he spotted a grumpy looking Kouseki sitting in front of Sasuke's door.

"Kouseki-chan! Look who I brought!" He pointed to the granddaughter of the Shodai Hokage as the two approached. Two pairs of yellow eyes, each a different shade, examined each other carefully.

_So this is the wolf summon that the lecher was talking about... _Calm amber eyes caught the bristled fur, though the wolf was sitting still. _I wonder what she's so ticked off about..._

_Lady Tsunade, the last living descendant of the Soother. _Kouseki's ear twitched. It looked like Tsunade already knew about her 'identity'. _She holds a soft spot for Naruto-baka already. I suppose I can trust her—for now...I'll need her help later._

With a slight dip of her head, Kouseki shifted to the side to allow them entrance into the hospital room. Naruto beamed, happy that his new precious one had passed the protective wolf's inspection. All three entered the room, not surprised at all to find that it was not, in fact, filled to the brim with gifts from the fan girls (and some fan boys). There was only a bouquet of flowers in the water vase, a small stack of instant ramen cups, and a pouch of unused wooden chopsticks resting on top of a wooden target.

The three of them settled themselves around Sasuke's bed as the Godaime's hands glowed a soft green. She covered the boy's forehead with her hand, and next to her, a machine started to beep at a faster rate. Once it seemed to be going at normal pace, the woman lifted her hand and stepped back to let Naruto take her place on Sasuke's left side. Kouseki had been sitting on his right side.

The body shifted a little bit before dull, dark black eyes opened slowly. As Sasuke's mind rebooted itself, he was mildly annoyed to find a mass of orange crowding the left corner of his eye, and a mass of black crowding the right. But where was that calm, silent presence that he had grown accustomed to? The perverted giggling? Coal black pools of colors flicked left and right, and Tsunade watched as the life that had sparked up upon seeing the louder half of Team Seven, faded away.

"Uchiha Sasuke." The indicated ninja turned his eyes towards her in disinterest. "I'll need to examine you. Please cooperate with me."

Sasuke looked away without a reply, causing a vein to pop out on the back of Tsunade's head. _Damn Uchiha brat..._

Naruto switched to the right side of the bed as the medic-nin's hands glowed a faint blue.

"_Where is Kakashi?"_

Naruto answered instantly. _"Kaka-sensei just got healed by Tsunade-baba, and he'll be going home tomorrow." _He tilted his head, watching Tsunade do her job. _"Akina-chan woke up last week." _Sasuke blinked, but did nothing else. The blond ninja took this as a sign to keep going. _"She had to go on a mission, though. Kouseki-chan said that it's an escort mission, like the one for Tazuna. Should be back in around a week."_

Tsunade finished off, scribbling a few things onto the clipboard. "Uchiha Sasuke. You'll need to stay here overnight, but afterwards, you're free to go. Except you can't do anything strenuous with that wrist for a week and a half. Take a break from the training and relax, because when you're fully healed, you'll be put to work in rebuilding the village like the rest of us."

And with a last look at the remaining students of Team Seven, Tsunade exited the room, immediately being grabbed by a crying Maito Gai. The door closed, muffling the rather loud talking.

Kouseki let out a soft snort, laying her head on Sasuke's bed and looking at him, much in the same position as she had with Akina. Sasuke remained unresponsive, opting to stare blankly at the opposite wall. His hands would twitch from time to time, but that was it. Naruto sent a confused look towards the wolf, who merely blinked, then examined at the little pile of 'Get Well!' gifts on the bedside table. He followed her gaze, saw the chopsticks and target, then grinned.

_Well, if Sasuke-teme is gonna be stubborn about being broody, then I might as well do something with my time..._ He picked up a chopstick and the target, strolling over to the place on the wall that Sasuke was gazing at. Naruto held the target against the wall and stared at the chopstick intently. A second later, blue chakra coated it and created a sharp point at the end. With a wide grin, he jammed it through the target and into the wall, effectively pinning it there. Naruto walked back to the seat on his team mate's left side and got another chopstick, twirling it in between his fingers before flinging it to the target.

It landed with a dull _thump_ in the bullseye. Kouseki's head shifted so that she could watch the boys and the target at the same time. After a few more chopsticks had embedded themselves into the target, a pale hand was held up towards Naruto, who laughed delightedly and handed the raven-haired teen the other half of the chopstick bundle.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Jiraiya turned away from the door, finished warding the room from any eavesdroppers. Kakashi was sitting up in his bed, a curious look in his eyes as he regarded the agitated wolf sitting at the foot of his bed, who was easily twice its height. Tsunade was lounging in the chair on Kakashi's right, looking a little bored.

"Alright Kouseki," started the jounin, "Now that we're all here, what did you want to talk about?"

"You should damn well _know_ what, or rather, _who_, I want to talk about." Piercing gold-colored eyes were directed at the blond Hokage. "But she doesn't. So we should start out with what you both know about Akina-chan." Her gruff, low voice held no room for arguments, so the two males decided to oblige her. Jiraiya started first, seeing as they needed to get the boring stuff out of the way.

"Takamaru Akina. 12 years old, genin rank. Blind. Assigned to Hatake Kakashi's Team Seven with Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto. Obviously, she graduated a year early. Kouseki is her wolf companion, very similar in the way that Inuzuka are with their dogs. She has an unusual relationship with other animals, and is said to be able to converse with them. Currently lives with Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto in a two story house near the Noble Clan district."

The look in Tsunade's eyes told them all that she already knew this, and to get on with it. Kakashi continued where Jiraiya left off.

"Akina is silent most of the time, and coupled with the fact that she keeps her chakra signature and aura damn near undetectable, most wouldn't be able to tell that she's even there unless she lets you see her. This got us suspicious, so when she became a genin, her abilities were tested, and she was found to be at least rookie-jounin to jounin in power and ability. Sandaime-sama sent her to the ANBU Academy." Interest was now entering the amber eyes. "During Team Seven's first C-rank mission, Momochi Zabuza and an accomplice came at us, trying to assassinate the one we were escorting under the orders of Gatou, an underworld crime lord. The mission was turned into an A-rank, and one week later, in her ANBU attire, Akina was ordered to kill off Gatou and all of his guards. Momochi Zabuza and Haku, his accomplice, were spared, and afterwards the rumors of the Shishou no Ryuuki had started up. Takamaru Akina became the Shishou no Ryuuki."

Kakashi stopped for a moment to burn the image of a shocked Tsunade into his memory. Jiraiya butted in before his old team mate realized this and Kakashi got mauled. Kouseki kept her gaze on Tsunade.

"During Chuunin Exams, Takamaru Akina was the one that tore up the Forest of Death, using the fire of hundreds of exploding seals to trap Orochimaru-teme in a flame tornado. She kept him from marking Uchiha Sasuke. During the next month, she worked on her reputation as the Shishou no Ryuuki, and at the Finals, she didn't get to fight, because of the invasion. By then, Kouseki had revealed herself as a summon and told us about Suna and Oto, giving us some time to prepare. During the invasion, Akina was supposed to help out and prove that she was chuunin material, to become a full-fledged ANBU, but she took that one step further. She helped save Sarutobi-sensei's life."

"N-NANI?! You mean it was _her_? I realized that someone had interfered, but really, a little brat?"

Both Jiraiya and Kakashi shrugged. They, also, wanted to discover how she had so much power, but they knew that they wouldn't find out anytime soon. A glance at the wolf proved that, as she had not reacted to this outburst at all. Tight-lipped, yup.

Kakashi sighed and rubbed the side of his face. "Because of Akina's interference, both she and Sandaime-sama fell into a coma. But before Sandaime-sama went, he ordered that the scroll that had appeared in his hand be delivered to the Shishou no Ryuuki by Akina, and for you to be Godaime. He said that he would be in a coma until the scroll was delivered. About one week ago, two days after Sasuke and I had been knocked off, she woke up and set out to deliver the scroll to herself, under the cover of an escort mission to the northern edge of the Fire Country. The mission was to take one to two weeks."

All eyes now went to the wolf, who had straightened up as the summary had finished. "Okay then," she growled, "Now that that's finished up, I just need to make sure of something before I start." She looked at Jiraiya. "Has the old man woken up yet?" He shook his head, frowning. The other ninja frowned too. Kouseki nodded, as if it had just confirmed something. "Right then. That would mean that Akina-chan hasn't delivered the scroll yet. So, let's use that gray matter in our heads that we call our brains! Why would there be a reason that Akina is unable to deliver a scroll to _herself_?"

Tsunade's lips curled into a scowl. "Cut to the chase, wolf. You obviously already know the reason why. Let's not waste our time here."

She got a low snarl in response. "Of course Hokage-_sama_." The disdain left Kouseki's voice as she moved on. "An hour and a half after Akina had left, I got the news from a monkey that Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame were still in the area where Akina had to cross through. Akina told the monkey to tell me that the mission might take longer than usual, because she was trying to avoid them. Seeing as the old man hasn't woken up yet, it means that she hasn't been able to find the time to open the damn scroll because of her watchers. I've been getting updates on her status each day from the animals. She's heading in the direction of Nami no kuni right now."

"Well, that's...not good." That was Kakashi's initial response. _Right_, thought the demoness sarcastically. _Of course it isn't good you fuckin' numskull!_ Kouseki was careful about not saying this out loud though. Even if she was worried as hell, and as a result, pissed as hell, she knew that ripping someone a new air hole would definitely not help find a solution. So she simply kept silent and let the ninja think.

A few minutes and some shared looks later, Kouseki knew that it was pointless. She growled lowly and curled up in a tight ball, her back facing the other ninja.

Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame were S-Class nuke-nin, earning a flee-on-sight status. Despite the fact that two valuable ninja's lives were at stake, they couldn't risk the lives of _other_ ninjas to save the two. The Sandaime Hokage had already chosen his successor, so even if he were to never wake up, it wouldn't truly affect the village. And Akina was only a genin/ANBU trainee. A _possible_ prodigy.

Emotionally, though, the entire village would be losing their grandfather figure—the one who had taken care of them after the devastating Kyuubi attack. He was the one that had helped rebuild their village, and their will of the fire. And all of the Rookie Nine would be losing a friend, or sister. Naruto would become depressed, increasing the risk of the Kyuubi escaping. There would be a high chance of Sasuke deserting. Kiba would be heart-broken. Hinata would lose her only female friend. Not to mention the fact that all animals in Konoha would rebel.

But they couldn't risk their ninja for all that. They had to think objectively. They had to think of the welfare of the village itself. They had to leave Akina to fend for herself, and hope that she will make it back safely.

"Kouseki..." started the copy-nin, sounding a bit apologetic.

The 'summon' just curled up tighter. "Save it, scarecrow. I don't wanna hear it."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

A petite, black-haired girl slowly turned her head, eyes closed, from side to side, perched high up on a tree in the heart of the Tea Country. A strong sea breeze was rushing over the entire country, signaling the coming of an extremely out of season monsoon. It brought chills of dread to all that felt it. This storm...was not natural. It felt almost alive—angry. Something bad was happening in the Elemental Countries.

But to Takamaru Akina, it brought comfort and strength. Her ancestor was, after all, the Wind itself. She let her mind flow with the wind, scanning the entirety of Cha no kuni and the southwestern border of Hi no kuni. _They're...gone._ She double-checked and triple-checked, wanting to make absolutely sure that the two Akatsuki members were not shadowing her anymore.

She let loose a small, relieved sigh, and could not stop the small rush of happiness that relaxed her tense muscles. Her inner wolf barked in victory before bashing into the mental barrier between the two, seeing its chance to escape by riding the positive emotion. The barrier bent perversely out of the shape, and a deep crack appeared before Akina was able to calm the wolf. Savage satisfaction bubbled up in Akina's chest, threatening to spill over and cause her to do something she normally wouldn't do.

But then the wind blew once again, weaving through her hair and awakening something else inside her. Something more ancient than the wild wolf. And the canine backed away behind the damaged barrier, cautious and suspicious of this new entity. With it went the emotions that were not her own.

This near confrontation within her mind scape erased any traces of the cheer, no matter how tiny, that she had just experienced. She flexed her right hand (being careful of her claws), as if to remind herself of her 'delivery.' _I need to finish this and get back to Kouseki..._

("Akina-san. Has the danger from those traitors passed?") Came a low bark from underneath her. Akina jumped down and landed silently, crouching next to the creme-colored alpha wolf.

("Hai,") she softly barked, then tilted her head questionably. The alpha mimicked her actions, questioning her in turn. It suddenly hit her how animalistic her habitual actions have been, and it amused her greatly, but she pushed away that thought process for now. ("Do you know where I can find a cave shelter to use for a short while? I will be leaving immediately afterwards.")

("You may use our summer den, Guardian. But I cannot risk any of my pack by having one of them, or me, show you the way.") He did sound regretful. ("My mate is with pup, you see...")

Akina just nodded. ("I understand. Just tell me the area in which your den is. I will find your pack's scent.")

("Go north, and when you get to the waterfall that cries into a pond with no bottom, go west.") He dipped his head in respect. ("I wish you safe traveling, Guardian.")

("And you,") she replied, before disappearing northward.

The wind seemed to hug her body protectively, pushing her onto her destination as she jumped through the trees, free from the watchful eyes at last. Her right palm throbbed briefly, and Akina knew that the Shinigami was also watching her. She gradually picked up the pace, eating up the miles between the waterfall and her. And when the mist of the falling water tickled her skin, she veered westward, climbing the mountainside from which the water fell.

Using the un-seasonal wind that was still speeding throughout the Tea Country, she quickly located the pack's summer den, which was hidden underneath a slab of rock, in the middle of the dense part of the forest. Akina stopped in the small clearing in front of the den, smelling the familiar wolf scent, before getting onto her hands and knees and crawling into the opening. Once inside, the space widened, revealing a den large enough to house 15 wolves.

Akina settled herself on the ground in the very back of the cave, getting herself comfortable. She slit her left pointer finger with her clawed thumb, wiping the blood across her right palm and pouring in some chakra. Instead of the usual puff of smoke, the scroll simply appeared, arousing an idea that she quickly filed away into her mind, for later contemplation.

Without a moment to lose, she broke the seal on the scroll and opened it. She frowned. She couldn't sense anything written on it. But as a dark light flashed in her head, Akina knew why. Glowing, crimson characters were burned into her mind, and as she read on, she couldn't help but frown. Both entities in her mind were still, sensing the seriousness of the situation.

_Is that so...?_ She remained sitting against the cave wall, letting her thoughts on the message roll around in her head for a bit. Two messages had been given to her from the Shinigami. One was an assignment, and the other personal. _However, the third..._—the seal on her palm throbbed again, and she vaguely noted that she had been given what she was supposed to receive.

A soothing breeze, very unlike the harsh monsoon outside, wafted into the room and seemed to brush against her face. _I will...accept this assignment, Seiryuu-sama, Shinigami-sama. I don't have a choice after all. But if I am to do this...may I request that the seal remain with me, on my wrist? _She was careful in her wording.

There was a no response for a few minutes, in which Akina had waited patiently, before the seal on her right palm burned. She felt the burning feeling move downward to her wrist, before it once again sunk underneath her skin. But she was a little surprised when her other wrist started burning as well, and she instinctively knew that it was in the shape of a wolf, its body also contorting into a circular shape, as if it were chasing its tail. This seal also sunk underneath her skin, and Akina was obliged to bow lowly to the opening of the cave. _Arigatou gozaimasu, Seiryuu-sama, Shinigami-sama. I will use your gifts wisely._

"_See that you do, little Akina."_ Came the familiar, gravelly voice of the Death God.

The way that the wind touched her, comfortingly, as she went out of the cave and hurried back towards Konoha, only worked to temporarily ease the new worries that had revealed themselves, as a result of this 'delivery'.

Two weeks after waking up and leaving Konoha—one week after Kakashi, Tsunade, and Jiraiya had been informed of her watchers—three weeks after the invasion and the last time she had been with Naruto and Sasuke (consciously)—and Akina was on her way back.

I truly am sorry, Akina-chan... whispered the wind.

_I know, Seiryuu-sama. I am, too._

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

In Konoha the next morning, a large wolf head jerked up in surprise and delight. Her eyes went to the window, looking out to the distance, hopeful. Situated around her were Tsunade, Jiraiya, Hatake Kakashi, and Sarutobi Daisuke, who had woken up the day before. The older man had gotten a strange feeling that day, telling him that the girl was to arrive soon. That was why they were all in Tsunade's office.

Kouseki shared a look with Kakashi. "Put your hand on my head, scarecrow, and I'll guide the Shunshin no jutsu to her location."

He nodded. "Right." He put his hand on her head and they both disappeared in a poof of smoke.

A mile away from the Village Hidden in the leaves, Akina was starting to feel the strain from not getting a full night's sleep for two weeks straight. All she wanted to do right now was get into her bed. After reporting, of course.

She halted as a puff of smoke enveloped her, and she was crushed underneath the weight of a wolf, who was now nuzzling her neck. Her right hand had landed on Kakashi's foot as she fell, and after a few seconds, she tapped it. With an amused chuckle, Kakashi pried Kouseki off of the girl, allowing her to stand and dust herself off.

"Akina, I know that you just want to get some rest right now, but everyone's waiting for you in Tsunade-hime's office."

The genin simply nodded and allowed herself to be teleported.

When the three appeared in the Hokage's office, the relief that was radiating from Sarutobi, Kakashi, and Kouseki was almost tangible. The Sandaime Hokage got up from the couch and walked slowly over to the motionless girl. Kakashi and Kouseki backed away respectfully. When the old man reached Akina, he pulled her into a hug.

"Thank you, Akina-chan..."

Akina turned her head away, almost causing Tsunade to come over and pummel her at the disrespect, but after a couple seconds her arms came up and firmly grasped the man's waist, for longer than anyone expected. Sarutobi chuckled and freed the girl. All those that knew the girl well also knew that her response had been done with her equivalent of embarrassment.

The now retired Hokage steered the girl over to the couch and sat her down, taking a seat next to her. Tsunade cleared her throat from her place behind her desk. Akina turned her head towards the lady, her hitai-ate and other ninja apparel once again adorning her body. The last living descendant of the Shodai Hokage took this as a sign that the girl was paying attention, and she began what would be her first conversation with the oh so famous Takamaru Akina that she had been hearing about, professional or not.

"Takamaru Akina-san. I'm Tsunade, and obviously I'm the newly instated Godaime Hokage." Akina tilted her head down in respect. "Please give your report about your mission."

But instead of talking, Akina simply summoned the scroll once again and gave it to the Sandaime when he held out his hand. The old man unrolled the scroll and scanned it, before sighing in a resigned manner.

Tsunade leaned forward in her chair. "What is it Sarutobi-sensei?"

But he just shook his head, as if he just couldn't believe what he had just read. Seeing the agitated looks, he tossed the scroll over to his successor. Sarutobi turned to the other men and explained what the scroll said, for their benefit, as the lady read it for herself.

"It was a message from Shinigami-sama, which I'm sure is not the original message...?" He directed this last part to Akina, who merely nodded. "Yes, well, apparently, I'm only going to live as long as Orochimaru's soul is not fully in Shinigami-sama's possession, to fulfill my end of the deal. In exchange for my continued existence, Akina-chan has to do something for Shinigami-sama. He ordered us not to interfere with her assignment, and to give her a private Training Area, where she won't be bothered by other ninja. Apparently her assignment won't start until Shinigami-sama says so. Until then, she's to get stronger."

Jiraiya blinked and frowned. "Wow, that really seems un—"

"You shouldn't finish that sentence, ero-sennin," cut in Kouseki, who had seated herself in front of Akina with her head in the girl's lap. "Shinigami-sama can hear you, and you'll sure as hell know how he feels about being dissed by mortals." She continued on with some quiet grumbling, giving off the (correct) impression that she had first-hand experience with this.

"But why Akina?" questioned Kakashi in a contemplative tone. "Was it because she 'interfered' with your jutsu?" He tilted his head, staring at the girl. "And how did you interfere? That kinjutsu is supposedly delayed death or death. You either fail in executing the jutsu and die, or succeed in executing the jutsu, then die." A thought came into his mind, and he pressed on, seemingly encouraged by everyone's silence. "Awase, the owl-masked ANBU at the scene that actually took your bodies to the ANBU Hospital Wing, told me that you went into a meditative trance on a roof a couple buildings away. Afterwards, he felt some sort of otherworldly presence moving around the battle area, helping them."

Sarutobi nodded. "Yes, that was Akina. She somehow disconnected her soul with her body, and used her bloodline limit to help take down the barrier by attacking the Oto-nin holding it up. She was there when I used the Shiki Fuujin and died. That's when I saw her spirit. She was there with the Shodai and Nidaime when the deal was made." He ignored the shocked expressions and turned towards the enigma of a girl. "You were in that form the entire time, right?" She nodded. "How did you do that and still live?"

"It's called Spirit Projection," said Kouseki, in place of her weary cousin. "Her bloodline limit gives her the ability to connect with nature and have a certain sway over it. Souls and nature both consist of life itself, so it's just a matter of half-merging your soul back with nature, and keeping your soul anchored to your body."

Tsunade set the scroll down on her desk and watched the interaction from behind her clasped hands. Jiraiya had started leaning on Tsunade's desk halfway through Kakashi's monologue, who was leaning comfortably against the wall opposite the couch.

Sarutobi sighed and shook his head. Really, there was no way around what he needed to say next. He traded a look with Tsunade before turning back towards the girl seated next to him, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Akina-chan...what I didn't mention about the message before, was that it told us your assignment is also connected to another deal that you made with him when you were 6 ½. The same age that you were when you came to Konoha." The grip tightened a little. "What was that deal, Akina-chan?" He cut off Kouseki before she could even open her mouth. "I want Akina-chan to answer this, Kouseki."

Akina didn't answer back at first, her mind whirling with activity. _"Shinigami-sama...told them. Is that why I couldn't open the scroll again? Because he didn't want me to know about this until they asked me about it?"_

"_That sneaky bastard!"_ Kouseki shuddered again. The cold chill had returned in double, and somehow the other ninja in the room had guessed what had just happened, because they looked around them for a moment in a suspicious manner. The Sandaime, however, kept his gaze on the girl, having actually met the God of Death.

"_Kouseki...he wants us to tell them."_

There was a short pause before the older demon responded. _"Yeah. With your thirteenth birthday tomorrow, we would have had to go through a lot of trouble to hide the fact that you're a demon."_

The tension in the room had, by then, risen. Akina let out an inaudible sigh before she started in her low, quiet voice. "I'm...not who I appear to be." She ignored the spike in the tension level. "When I was younger, my family made a deal with Shinigami-sama, to ensure my safety. They sent me here, to Konoha."

"You still haven't told us what that deal was, Akina-chan," the Sandaime reminded, his mind working overtime analyzing those three sentences.

Akina frowned, but she slowly shook her head. "Tomorrow is my thirteenth birthday." The seemingly off topic statement confused them. "I'll be able to tell you then, in a place of my choosing."

There were sighs all around the room now. Sarutobi removed his hand from her shoulder, leaning back into the couch. He waved off the indignant protests that were sure to erupt from his more vocal student. "Where?" Was all he said.

"If you go to the back of the Hokage Mountains at 10 pm, I'll have the animals guide you to our meeting spot."

"Okay, Akina-chan. We'll be there. Go get some rest."

Kouseki and Akina stood and stepped away from the old man. Akina bowed towards the room in general, before grasping the wolf's fur and disappearing in a poof of smoke.

As soon as they were gone, Tsunade could not hold it in anymore. The apparent 'disrespect' was overwhelming to her. Only she and Jiraiya had the right to blow off the Sandaime like that! He was their _sensei_, after all.

"Oi, Saru-sensei! Why didn't you question her more?! You're her superior. If you'd ordered her to tell you, she would have been obligated to do so."

Both Kakashi and Sarutobi sighed. "Akina-chan is by nature a quiet and secretive girl," started the retired ninja. "Pushing her would just make her clam up more. She always does what's needed to be done, but at her own leisure. She's always been like that."

Kakashi nodded, suddenly feeling tired after the stressful meeting. "Akina already gave her word that she'd tell us tomorrow. We'll just have to wait until then."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

When the two demons had appeared in Team Seven's living room, they found it empty. _They must be out training._ Kouseki nudged the girl up the stairs, towards the shower. Two weeks in the wilderness, and she smelled a bit too natural. As they ascended, Akina opened up the mind link to the others, and Naruto's 'voice' immediately made itself known.

"_Akina-chan! When did you get back?! And how—wait, are you okay?"_ The intensity of that last thought actually forced Akina to stop to respond.

_He must have sensed my unease. It seems that even this mind seal is getting stronger as it grows closer... "Hai. I am very tired. Where's Sasuke? If Kakashi is up, then he should be, too..."_ The absence of Sasuke's mind puzzled her. Why was Sasuke cutting them both off?

"_Sasuke-teme...he keeps on going off by himself these days. I dunno what's wrong with him. Did we do something?"_

Her thoughts went back to her current problem at hand, and Akina suddenly suspected what the problem was. _"I believe it is what we _haven't_ been doing."_

"_Huh?"_

Akina ignored his confusion. _"Come back to the house. We need to go find him."_

"_Err, okay. I'm coming back now. But tell me why!"_

She sent him the equivalent of a head shake as she walked back down the stairs. Kouseki followed her, also confused.

("Wait, weren't you gonna take a shower?") Akina shook her head, physically this time. ("Err, okay then. I'm guessing we're dealing with the sudden silent treatment from the gaki?") A nod. ("Ahh, gotcha.")

A few minutes later, Akina opened the door, not even letting Naruto go inside before she locked the door behind her and Kouseki. Naruto poked her arm. _"Ano sa...why can't you tell me why we're tracking Sasuke down?"_

"_I need to confirm what his problem with us is."_

"_Huh...? Okay...?"_

Akina started roof-hopping at a relatively quick pace, going slow enough for Naruto and Kouseki to keep up with her without much of a problem. Both loud Team Seven members recognized where they were headed after a few seconds, being so close to their destination. They were going to the abandoned Uchiha District.

After five minutes or so, the three landed on the path overlooking a large lake, where one lone figure sat at the edge of the pier that jutted out into the water. Naruto's eyes lost focus when he suddenly remembered the last time he had been here. It had been the day that the two had became friendly rivals.

The kunoichi started walking down towards Sasuke, stepping on a twig as she did so to make sure that Sasuke knew that he had company. He didn't react. He just kept on giving them the cold shoulder, even when the three were standing directly behind him, with Akina in the front.

"Sasuke."

No response.

"Sasuke, Naruto told me about your behavior. Can you tell me why you're acting like this?"

Naruto butted in at this point. "Yeah, bastard! Did we do something wrong?"

No one spoke for several minutes. But Naruto and the girls were patient—at least, for a while. Just as Naruto was about to turn around to leave, Sasuke spoke in such a cold voice that he froze, motionless.

"I thought that 'Those who break the rules are trash, but those who leave their comrades behind are worse than trash. They're scum.' That's what Kakashi told us, right?"

Naruto frowned at Sasuke's back. "What the hell does that have to do with this?"

Akina felt the Uchiha clench his fist. "All four of you left me behind, and I didn't even realize it until I came out of that coma."

"The hell are you talking about?!"

"He means that we left him behind in terms of knowledge, Naruto." Both Kouseki and Naruto turned to see Kakashi walking towards them, his little orange book absent.

Naruto blinked. "How long have you been listening in?"

He smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck. "I was wondering where you two were going in such a rush and tagged along. So...the whole time, I guess."

"_He's been following me since I finished reporting in to the Hokage Tower..."_

"That's exactly what I'm talking about," Sasuke hissed, finally standing up to face his team. Had they not been who they were, they would have all taken a step back at the sheer iciness that seemed to radiate from his glare. Slight killer intent was released for a moment. "All four of you are keeping secrets from me—secrets that shouldn't be _kept_ secret. What the _hell _happened to trust?"

Naruto seemed confused as to what secrets Kakashi and the girls were keeping, but they weren't. If Kouseki had eyebrows in this form, she would have raised them. _Who would have thought that the "Avenger" would be the one to be picky about trust? Apparently he doesn't like being kept out of the loop._

"Naruto no baka!" Said ninja twitched when he was called. "On the day of the invasion, you released evil red chakra in the fight against the panda-eyed Suna-nin. At the end of the fight, you traded a look that told me that you had made contact before. When the hell were you going to tell us about this?" Naruto looked to the side, his eyes darkening at the thought of the sealed demons.

"Akina and Kouseki." Both tilted their heads in unison. "You're hiding something from us. Where do you go when you disappear for those long periods of time? And don't fucking tell me that you're out helping the animals. If they're strong enough to defend against invading ninja, then they're strong enough to fend for themselves." Cold black eyes slid towards a calm Kakashi. "And you, Kakashi, are in on _their_ secrets."

It really didn't matter which "their" he was referring to. The truth of the matter was that he was right. They had _all_ been keeping secrets. Sasuke hadn't, as ironic as it was.

All of Team Seven, save Akina, looked off in different directions, each lost in their own thoughts. Akina's next movement caused all of their heads to snap back to her in shock. She was...bowing. Sasuke's eyes widened a small fraction.

"Sasuke, I apologize for our actions, but please know that Kouseki and I had our reasons."

The Uchiha stared at her for a few moments, before frowning and looking off to the side. "...Why are you bowing? Straighten yourself," he muttered.

Akina did so, not at all bothered with what she had just done. "Tomorrow is my thirteenth birthday." Once again she didn't acknowledge anyone's reactions. "If you will follow me to a private location behind the Hokage Mountains, I will help remedy this problem."

Despite the fact that Sasuke wanted answers _now_, he knew that Akina liked to do things her own way. As long as it got the job done in the end, he really couldn't care less how it came to be.

All heads turned towards Naruto, whose gaze only hardened on a spot in the distance. He lowered his head, letting his bangs cover his eyes so that no one would see them. His hands clenched into tight fists, and they trembled for a moment from the force. "I...I need some time to think about this. Alone." He turned and ran past everyone, disappearing in the tree line.

Akina reached out and gripped Sasuke's shoulder, like she did in the Forest of Death. The stoic teen didn't stiffen or react negatively, as he would have done had it been anyone else. She let go without a word.

Kouseki nudged the girl towards home. ("We need to get you home, pup. You still haven't showered yet. You don't smell _stinky_, but you don't smell _normal_ either...")

Both females disappeared, leaving Sasuke and their sensei alone. Kakashi took out his Icha Icha again, flipping it open. Sasuke's eye twitched, but that was all. Sadly, he was used to the public porn reading.

"Don't worry Sasuke!" The older shinobi called in a cheerful voice. "This'll probably all get fixed up by tomorrow." He giggled a bit, then frowned pensively. "What do you get a girl like her for her birthday?" He shrugged to himself and without waiting for an answer, used the Shunshin to return to...whatever it is that he did in his spare time.

Sasuke was left alone on the pier. He glanced back at the lake before walking back into the Uchiha District, and soon the memories of his former life started to spring forth once more. His black eyes darkened, but then one lone thought pierced through the haze of flashbacks. The day on which Akina was born was...interesting, to say the least.

Smirking, amused by the thought, Sasuke treaded through the barren streets of the once thriving Uchiha District, but this time, it didn't seem so empty.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Akina entered the house again silently, coming back from a meeting with some of the Animal Heads. They had been curious, to say the least, but they had all agreed to meet at the designated time. Word would soon be spreading of the scheduled gathering. Tomorrow, she and Kouseki would be revealing who they are, and there was no getting around that.

_Tomorrow..._ Both entities in her mind scape began shifting restlessly at this thought. Akina didn't bother pushing them away this time. It was far too close to her birthday for her to be able to hold them back any longer. Her Uncle had told her, when she had found out about her heritage, that when she reached puberty, her demon blood would really start to kick in and become fully active—and not like the subtle changes and nature manipulation she had now.

_Tomorrow is my thirteenth birthday..._ Akina went up the stairs, sensing her team mates already in bed, sleeping. It was only 11 pm, but today had been a bit emotionally trying, what with Akina's return, and Sasuke's outburst. She slipped into her room, skirting around the mound of fur that was Kouseki. Quickly changing, the young demoness got underneath her blanket and settled herself into a comfortable position.

_Tomorrow is my thirteenth birthday...April 1st._

* * *

WHOO! Now, was that a fast update or what?

Now, I'm extremely sorry for the lack of action, but as I said in my profile, this is only a sort of transition chapter, to get us ready for the action in the next chapter that is sure to come!

And yes, Akina's birthday is the reason for the timing of my update. It's April 1st today—April Fool's Day! And no, this is no joke. Akina-chan really was born on the First of April. So go ahead and send in a review to wish her a happy birthday! As idiotic as it sounds, if you give her a "present", I'll answer back using Akina in story format! ... ... ...Yes, I do get bored easily.

I really can't think of what I'll have Kakashi give Akina-chan (which is why I put that little text block in there), so I'll just pick one of the presents from the reviews. If there aren't any reviews with presents in them...or reviews at all, I'll have to go back and bounce ideas off of my sister until we decide on one.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AKINA! HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY!

(sidesteps a bucket of water set by Naruto) HA! Beat that! (gets hit by a paint ball) ...Damn.


	16. Thirteen

First of all, I'd like to take this time to thank the reviewers of Chapters 14 and 15, who I can say with confidence, have come back and read the latest chapters!

Thank you: dudekiller, LuVr oF KoReA, solita, iiceangel3.o, Cybernetic Hinote, and that one anonymous reviewer with the ebil smiley face, heh.

Akina bows respectfully. "Arigatou gozaimasu."

Kouseki butts in and gives a fanged grin. "Yeah, thanks you guys. For wishing my cuz a happy birthday, and for putting up with _Lady_ (insert rolling eyes) Okori—even though she's such a lazy ass."

HEY! I resent that! ... ... ...even though it's true. (laughs sheepishly)

"Talking"

_Thinking_

"_Telepathy through mind seal/jutsu"_

("Animals talking" / _"Telepathy from animals through mind seal/jutsu" _)

"**Demon Language" / 'Demon talking telepathically with their jinchuuriki'**

_'Miscellaneous things such as signs, ANBU sign language, letters...'_

* * *

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

**:;Seeing the Truth;:**

**Chapter 16: Thirteen**

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

("Shh! Be quiet! You'll wake up Akina-sama!")

The sound of a small scuffle.

("No I won't! Leave me alone!")

("But _I_ wanna give her _my_ present first!")

More scuffling. A soft snort. ("Do you both realize that _this_ might wake her up?") Quiet growling. A small yelp. ("Thought not.")

A pale, small hand reached out and lifted the blanket. The bickering continued, unaware that upstairs, the cause of their argument had indeed woken up. Akina slipped out of bed, standing up and stretching. Her black button up, two-piece pajamas shifted with the movements.

She tilted her head, breathing in the scent of hot eggs, sausages, and pancakes. Her two human teammates were not in the house, but they had left just recently, leaving behind breakfast. The older entity in her mind nodded in approval at the thoughtful gesture. Instead of letting the girl cook breakfast, as was her duty, they had done it for her.

("Akina-sama?") She stopped threading her fingers through her waist-length black hair to go open her door for the teenage gray wolf pup, who had grown since the small dinner scene, the day after she had become a genin. The pup lifted his muzzle up proudly, displaying the single flower held delicately in his jaws. ("Happy birthday!")

Akina went down on one knee to scratch the pup behind the ears, gently accepting the flower. The wolfling's tail thumped on the floor in pleasure. A high-pitched yelp erupted from the top of the stairs, and moments later, another furry head was rubbing against her outstretched hand.

("Hey! I got you a present, too!") The fox kit's voice rang out, a little pouty. Akina quickly relinquished the flower in the kit's mouth, taking it away from the danger. Her hand drifted over to rub the top of the kit's head.

A low chuckle drifted over to the trio. ("Okay, that's enough you little brats. Akina-chan needs to eat before her food gets cold.")

("Awwww!") ("Nuuuuu!")

The girl stood upright again and walked downstairs towards the dining room, ghosting her fingers over the petals of the two flowers. They seemed to perk up at the familiar life source. Vaguely, the memory of a long-forgotten flower lesson from the Academy came back to her. _A Buckbean flower and a Convolvulus flower. The Buckbean stands for calm repose. The Concolvulus stands for bonds. _She walked into the kitchen and got a glass of cold water, putting the flowers in it. Team Seven certainly didn't have a flower vase, so she had to make due. _One of the deer must have helped them pick._

The three beasts all sat themselves at the table, drinking in the smell of cooked meat in appreciation. In unison, they released a sigh of happiness.

("Sausages...") they said.

Akina wordlessly split her sausages between the trio of near-salivating animals. There were some sheepish laughs.

"Itadakimasu." ("Itadakimasu!")

They all dug in, and Akina let her thoughts wander to what would happen that night as she ate. Kouseki and the children had no idea that she was in such a pensive mood and not really paying attention to eating, seeing as you could _never_ tell whether or not she was paying attention. Normally, people's eyes dulled and glazed over when they lose their focus, but not only were Akina's eyes always like that, they were covered.

The front door slammed open (Kouseki: ("What kind of ninja forgets to lock the fuckin' door?")), letting in Kiba and Akamaru, who were exerting excited and happy auras, with just a little hint of exasperation. They trotted over to their location, but the Inuzuka froze in the threshold of the dining room, staring uncomprehendingly at Akina. Akamaru swerved last second around the boy's leg, now curious about why he had stopped walking.

Kouseki stopped gorging her food and looked up, a sausage still in her jaws. ("Oi, what's with that stupid look on your face? You look like an idiot.") She paused. ("Well, more like an idiot than usual,") she corrected herself.

The insult seemed to wake Kiba out of his stupor, because he gave her The Bird, scowling. "Nothing. It's just that Akina-chan has her hair down for once. It surprised me."

The wolf swallowed the meat, then grinned slyly. ("Aww...does wittle Kiba-chan have a cwush?")

On her left, the fox kit let out a spray of pre-chewed sausage bits, laughing merrily. The wolf cub sighed, shaking out his fur.

Kiba's scowl grew deeper, but no blush appeared on his face. "Baka-Kouseki. Akina-chan's like a sister to me. That's disgusting!" Kouseki's shoulders lifted in a small shrug. "And besides, aren't you supposed to be the overprotective guardian?"

Akina got up to put the dishes into the sink, not even acknowledging the conversation. Kouseki hopped off of her seat, letting out a bark of laughter. ("Of course. But it's so much more amusing to see Akina brush everyone off!")

All three of the younger animals made sounds of agreement. The girl came out of the kitchen, turning her head towards the dog duo. Kiba grinned widely and clapped his hands twice. "Hurry and freshen yourself up, Akina-chan! Me and Akamaru are taking you over to the Inuzuka Compound to meet the new puppies!"

She nodded and started walking towards the stairs. "Oh, wait for a bit." Akina stopped, but didn't turn around. "Put your hair up so that the puppies can't get a grip on it."

The Inuzuka watched as Akina ascended the staircase, disappearing into her room. _Alright then Naruto-baka. I've got Akina distracted. I'm counting on you guys to keep up your part of the plan._

Unknown to all, Kouseki cast a knowing look towards the boy, but said nothing.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

By dusk, Kiba and Akamaru had shown Akina the proud new members of the Inuzuka household, new jutsu that they had learned, got caught up with the current events surrounding her coma, and mediated a few fights between some hot-headed beasts—all the while avoiding the general Konoha populace. There had been extreme frustration and irritation surrounding them, and they didn't even have to go look to know that it was the local King of Pranks' doing. Kouseki had disappeared after the visit to the Inuzuka Compound, most likely heading towards the Council Cave.

Kiba stretched towards the sky, sighing in satisfaction at the relatively relaxing day. Akamaru echoed the sigh of contentment from his perch on top of Akina's head. Her hair was still up in a clip, since she hadn't bothered to put it down from that morning at the Inuzuka's.

"So, who do you think has a good chance at being promoted to chuunin? We have a conscious Hokage again, and all the Rookies are back in the village, so they should be getting to deciding who gets the new rank, right?"

Akina nodded, not even questioning where the other genin was leading her. He had asked her earlier to not use her 'freaky psychic powers' to sense where everything was, in an attempt to make her day a little less stressful. She knew that he was acting as a diversion, for whatever the others were cooking up for her birthday celebration. It was really hard not to notice how the boys were blocking her from their minds, and how she hadn't met any of their friends the entire day.

"Naruto and Shikamaru showed intelligence and cunning in their fights."

"Well, yeah, I guess so…" He seemed reluctant to admit that they had a chance at being promoted, when he and Akamaru had been eliminated during the preliminaries. Kiba had only brought the topic up because it had been the first thing that popped into his head.

Akina didn't push the subject, letting the comfortable silence set in. Kiba watched the sun set as they walked, and Akina, being blind, merely basked in the cooling air, not at all bothered at being unable to witness the natural reoccurring phenomenon. When the great ball of warmth finally sank beneath the horizon, the wild genin stopped and turned to face the girl. They were at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the top of the Hokage Mountains, though she didn't know that. The wind blew gently, making her bangs tickle the sides of her face in a mischievous manner. _Hmm. It seems that even Seiryuu-sama is in on this._

"Akina-chan," he started. Akamaru hopped off of her head and into Kiba's jacket. "I'm glad that you're not in a coma anymore." The puppy barked softly in agreement.

She nodded once. "I am too," she murmured.

And she followed the males up the stairs, into a large clearing in the forest on top of the Mountains.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY AKINA-CHAN!" "Happy Birthday Akina-chan!"

Akina paused at the edge of the clearing, letting her 'freaky psychic powers' loose again. There were several picnic blankets set out together underneath a large tree, where all the Rookies were sitting around a large assortment of food. She could feel the heat from the hanging decorative lights and sense the small pile of presents, though she only brushed over that, honoring their attempts at concealing their gifts (several were not in boxes).

Kiba laughed and gently pushed her towards the others. Naruto jumped up from his seat and dragged her over to sit next to him, in between Kouseki and Team Eight. Up above them, sitting on a tree branch, was Sasuke. Once seated, she bowed once in the general direction of the other genin.

"Arigatou." Her head tilted to the side towards Sasuke, letting the Uchiha know that she was thanking him as well.

Shikamaru shook his head tiredly. "Mendosuke. You don't thank people for celebrating your birthday."

"Besides…" Naruto nudged her side. "This is your first birthday party in Konoha! We didn't know what day you were born on before!"

"So!" Kiba steered the conversation away from her state of selective amnesia. "Food first, then birthday cake, then presents!"

Both Chouji and Naruto let out cheers, before piling food onto their paper plates. There were some exasperated, yet fond, sighs, before the rest of the Rookies got some food for themselves as well. Several relaxed conversations started up, one of the topics being the new Hokage, Tsunade. Akina got some food up to Sasuke, who had accepted the plate without a word. Down on the ground, Ino had to fight to suppress the (now ingrained) habit of yelling out in jealousy.

Halfway through the meal, Rock Lee had stopped by to drop off some 'Curry of Life', and to (loudly) wish her a happy thirteenth birthday. Needless to say, upon eating said 'Curry of Life', all those attending the celebration save Team Seven had passed out from the heat of the food. Naruto and Kouseki laughed uproariously at the scene, and even Sasuke couldn't help but smirk, happy that he hadn't even tried it. When Akina had gotten herself a second helping, not at all bothered at the heat (or the circle of knocked out genin), the mirth had doubled.

Upon waking up, several complained good-heartedly, but the cutting of the birthday cake was up next, so they didn't complain for long. They'd all decided not to sing "Happy Birthday", seeing as half of those attending wouldn't have sang. They did, however, cheer when Akina cut herself the first slice of the French Vanilla cake.

Naruto and Kiba polished off their slices in record time, impatient about what was coming up next—the present opening. Hinata smiled. She could tell that the two were being excited for Akina, since she was expectedly _not_ emotional, even on her birthday.

"Come on, come on, come on! Hurry up and eat!"

"Eat, eat, eat!"

If anything, Shikamaru slowed down his pace, not really liking how they were trying to rush everyone. Eventually they all finished, and Kiba was proud to be the first one to give Akina her present. She opened up the small rectangular box, taking out a black leather necklace, from which a thin whistle hung, in between two fangs.

"It's a dog whistle," explained Kiba, who didn't see the need to explain any further, and embarrass himself more. He helped her put it on, and she touched the whistle where it rested comfortably on her chest. She bowed her head to Kiba and Akamaru.

One by one, the rest of the Rookie Nine presented the girl with her birthday presents. Shino had gotten her a ceramic tea set, and when she had run her fingers over the pieces, she felt the hand-painted bees and flora. Hinata had given her a small potted flower from her private garden. Ino, who had talked with the Hyuuga heiress, had given her a small watering pail and a glass vase (in a disgruntled, uncomfortable manner). Chouji had given the girl her own pair of personalized chopsticks, and the lazy Nara had, predictably, given Akina her own Shougi set.

"Hey. Naruto-baka. Sasuke. Kouseki. Where are your presents?" Kiba frowned. They hadn't brought anything with them.

Naruto laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Well actually, we're going to give Akina-chan her presents when we get home tonight." Sasuke didn't add to this statement.

Even with their minds blocked from her, Akina knew that they were lying. And…she was okay with that. Yesterday had made them all realize that they didn't really know each other, despite their closeness. They needed to know more about her to be able to give her a proper, well thought out present.

"Oh, okay then." His eyebrow had gone up at their secretiveness, but otherwise he didn't do anything.

Akina bowed once to the other Rookies. "Arigatou gozaimasu, minna-san."

With the gifts given already, the genin helped put the garbage into a large bag before leaving with pleasant farewells. Sasuke jumped out from the tree and lit fire to the trash bag. Akina gathered up her presents in a pile after putting them back into their boxes for easy transport. The boys lent a couple hands in carrying the gifts.

"Akina-chan?" She nodded, giving Naruto permission to continue his questioning. "You know the Shunshin no jutsu, right? Lee and Hinata-chan told me about how you used it to get them to the bunkers." Akina nodded again. Kouseki walked over and put a paw on her foot, already knowing where this was going. "Well can you use it? I don't really want to walk through the village right now. Too much anger." He shuddered involuntarily.

Normally, Sasuke would have made a witty, biting comment at this point, but he kept his silence. Kouseki filled in for the Uchiha instead. ("That's your own fault, bakayaro! If you hadn't pranked the whole friggin' village, there wouldn't be so much pissed off villagers! … … …But those pranks _were_ funny…I liked the polka-dot explosion the best.")

There was a pause, in which the two were most likely recounting the incident, before they both snickered in unison. Shaking his head, Sasuke walked over to the girl, touching her arm with his elbow. Naruto, having been reminded of his request, hurried over to lean against Akina's other arm. The boys watched as she formed the hand seal.

"Shunshin no jutsu," she muttered, and the next instant, they were in front of the house. Naruto blinked, a little disoriented from the rapid movement and location change. Akina slipped out of the 'huddle' and opened the front door, holding it open for everyone to get in. Sasuke glanced up at the clock in the den. It was 9:53.

Everyone disappeared into their own rooms to do their own thing until Akina was ready to lead them to her 'chosen location of secret-telling'. Kouseki followed her ward around as the girl transferred the two flowers into the vase and put the flower pot in the window where it could get some sunlight. She sighed and took the clip out of her hair, letting her long black hair fall. Akina nodded towards the wolf, who, in turn, barked for the boys to come downstairs.

"Alright, alright! Geeze," complained Naruto as he came down. Sasuke followed silently, his fingers tapping his leg being the only sign of his anticipation. They each grasped one of Akina's shoulders, Kouseki taking her usual place on her foot.

_Shunshin no jutsu._

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Earlier that night, at around 9:30, a single barn owl flew up to the window of the Hokage's Office, carrying a folded up piece of paper in her beak. Tsunade let her in, and the bird of the night settled herself on the wooden desk, dropping the message. The Godaime Hokage picked it up curiously, not quite used to how friendly the animals were with the quiet girl.

Kakashi closed his Icha Icha Tactics book with a distinct snap (YES! New series!). He nodded to his new boss in understanding. "Yeah, it took everyone in the village a while to get used to it, too. Please open it and read it out loud." He eye-smiled. "Knowing Akina, it should be short and to the point."

Both Jiraiya and Sarutobi leaned forward in their seats on the couch. Shaking her head in what seemed like amusement at their anticipation, Tsunade unfolded the paper. Her amber eyes only had to glance at the neat writing before she looked back up, a slight incredulous expression on her face.

" '_Follow the owl.'_ "

The copy-nin let out a soft snort, and the Sandaime Hokage laughed quietly.

Said owl perked up as the old man stood. "Well then, shall we go follow?"

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

The cloud of smoke cleared, and Akina walked out of the boys' grips to move towards the nearest Animal Clan Head, who just so happened to be the Snake Head (a freakishly large black snake). He towered over the girl, looking to be twice as long and thick as the huge centipede from the Forest of Death. The was enormous for an animal that had grown up naturally (and was not a demon).

Akina bowed respectfully. The Snake Head nodded in approval. "Hebi-sama. Is everyone here?"

("Yesssss, little Guardian. We are all waiting for you at the Konoha Tree.")

She turned her head back to her teammates, and, knowing what the snake had said, they moved to walk behind the two. Kouseki ran ahead of them, to alert everyone of Akina's arrival, seeing as they had appeared at the edge of the Cave.

Akina felt the barrier between the genins' minds disappear. _"Oi, Akina-chan? Where did you teleport us?"_

She didn't bother to correct him in his misconception that they had _teleported_. _"I'll explain later."_

The mental pout was ignored as they walked into a large clearing filled with a member of every species of beast in Konoha. Naruto blinked in surprise when he spotted the adults sitting peacefully in the center of the clearing, in the traditional positions. Kouseki was in front of them. She had probably been the one to tell them that this was their form of a council meeting.

"Saru-geezer? Tsunade-baachan? Kaka-sensei? Ero-sennin?"

Under the eyes of the dozens of Clan Heads, animal or not, Tsunade and Jiraiya could only twitch. Kakashi raised two fingers in a salute, and the Sandaime Hokage only chuckled lightly, trying to look sternly at the boy and failing.

"Naruto-kun, I am not a monkey."

"But you didn't deny that you were a geezer," he pointed out, smiling now. Sarutobi smiled as well.

"I can't deny the truth, Naruto-kun. I _am_ old."

Akina ushered her teammates over to the other humans, to take their seats. Akina remained standing behind them all. She bowed once towards the Council as a whole.

"Konbonwa, minna-san," she greeted.

("Konbonwa, Guardian,") they answered. Kouseki took her seat to the side of the humans, to serve as a translator.

The Tiger Clan Head growled lowly for a second, showing that he was going to be speaking for the Council. Jiraiya twitched once more, earning him a couple strange looks that were ignored.

("Akina-sama. You have called this meeting of the beasts, something that you have only done once before, in preparation for the traitor's invasion. Please enlighten us as to your reason for this meeting.")

Kouseki watched the surprise start to fester on the ninjas' faces after she had translated the old tiger's words. _This is only the tip of today's iceberg, guys. That surprise will multiply by the meeting's end, and I just hope that it won't be negative surprise._

"Hai, Tora-sama. Shortly after the mission to Nami no kuni, I was told of my life before Konoha. I'm sorry to say that I've been keeping that a secret, until now."

There were nods from the animals. Keeping secrets was normal. It wasn't anything new. ("I see,") growled the wild cat. ("Continue.")

"Do you remember my telling you of the Elder Owl's words? He told me that I was more connected to Okaa-sama than I thought. At the time, I hadn't thought much of it. It wasn't until I got back to Konoha that I was told of my past." Kouseki could tell that the girl was trying to ease everyone into a mental state where they wouldn't totally freak. Unfortunately for Akina, that meant talking much, _much_, more.

She reached into the pouch on her hip and took out a small pale blue scroll, raising it up so that all could see it. The ninjas turned around in their seats. "I had questions about my heritage, and I was going to ask the Elders here, but Kouseki said that she'd answer them for me. She gave me this scroll, and when I opened it, I was knocked out."

In response to the tensing of the ninjas' muscles (Naruto: "Knocked out?!"), she tossed them the scroll. Seiryuu had already deactivated it, so there was no risk in doing so. Sarutobi turned it over in his wizened hands, frowning thoughtfully when he felt the familiar otherworldly aura that the Shinigami had also radiated. Except this one was seemed more distant, and...free.

Akina waited for all the ninja to take their turns examining the scroll. Jiraiya handed it back to her when they were finished, and she tossed it up, letting the Hawk Clan Head catch it to take it to the others. When any of the flying or reptilian animals touched it, they instinctively knew that the aura was that of one of their Lords. When the ninjas saw that even the fearsome Snake Clan Head had become submissive upon being exposed to the aura, they knew that it was genuine.

"When I woke up, Kouseki led me to meet my Uncle and two other relatives. My father's family." She paused. _It should be around 10:15..._ "Our family."

There was a long, nerve-racking silence. Akina could feel the heavy gazes of the older ninja. They suspected now. All they needed was the confirmation. A light probing at the corner of her mind alerted her to the presences of both Naruto and Sasuke's minds. She opened up her mind a little more, letting them feel her emotions. Apprehension. Sadness. Agitation. All of this was not revealed through her completely relaxed body. But when two other..._beings_...brushed against their minds, the boys jerked back mentally.

"Akina-chan?"

She tilted her head. "Naruto," she murmured.

"What are you trying to tell us?"

"Did you know, Naruto?" started Kouseki. Both Sasuke and Naruto flinched in surprise. Since when could she speak in the human tongue?! "All summons are from Makai. That means that they're all technically demons."

A soulful pair of cerulean blue eyes settled on the wolf, who could clearly see the confusion. "Kouseki...chan?"

The piercing gold eyes softened a little. "I'm a demon, Naruto."

The boy was opening his mouth to respond, but Sasuke cut him off. "So Akina is a demon, too?"

Kouseki sent him an amused look. She pointed her muzzle towards the girl that was still standing quietly behind them all, under the intense scrutiny of Sarutobi, Kakashi, and the two Sannin. "She's right there, Sasuke. Why don't you ask her?" _I can't do all the work, Akina-chan. They'll trust you more if this comes out of your mouth, not mine._

When she was sure that everyone's attention was on her, Akina nodded. "Hai, Sasuke. I am what you would call a youkai. Kouseki is my cousin."

("Akina-sama, I have a question,") stated the Hawk Clan Head, who just so happened to be Hiroki and Hiromi's father.

Akina nodded, happy for the extra amount of time for her heritage to sink in. Naruto had lowered his head so that his face was hidden behind his bangs again, and he wasn't moving. Sarutobi, Jiraiya, Sasuke, and Tsunade were alternatively switching their searching gazes between Kouseki and Akina. Kakashi was merely staring at Akina, a distant look in his eyes.

("If Kouseki is a wolf demon, and she is your cousin, then that makes you a wolf demon as well, correct?") Akina nodded patiently, knowing that this was not really his question. ("Why did that scroll have Seiryuu-sama's aura? Wolves fall primarily under the rule of Byakko-sama, the White Tiger of the West. Seiryuu-sama is the Azure Dragon of the East. They're opposites.")

The line of Akina's mouth thinned, and she turned her head away a little. Kouseki let out a small sigh, giving her attempt at an apologetic look to the hawk after translating the chirps and screeches to the humans, who were confused as to why Akina would react in such a negative way, for her.

"Gomen. It looks like it's still a touchy subject with Akina-chan." Akina made no move to disprove this sentence. They had to keep to the truth now. "You're right. If Akina had been born a full-blooded wolf demon, then yes, that scroll should be exuding Byakko-sama's aura, not Seiryuu-sama's." A grim smile appeared on the wolf's face. "Akina's otou-san is a full-blooded wolf demon—my youngest uncle. Her okaa-chan was a full-blooded dragon demon—the heiress to the last dragon clan."

Several of the Clan Heads jolted back, making sounds of discontent. The grim smile remained. The Sandaime's frown grew deeper when he noticed this. _She knew that some of them would react like this. _

"Kouseki," he said, calling her attention. "First of all, we're going to need some proof. The Clan Heads may accept your story, but I'm afraid that I can't do that so easily."

Kouseki shrugged. She trotted over to Akina, transforming on the way over. One moment, there was a large black wolf. The next, there was an aristocratic female in her late teens, wearing the same outfit as the last time she had transformed. There were some screeches and growls of surprise. Kouseki grinned at the crowd, putting an arm around her shorter cousin, who merely let out an inaudible sigh at her behavior. The older demon licked her fangs, her eyes shining in amusement. She took in Jiraiya's dumbfounded look for a second, before looking back at the Sandaime Hokage.

"Is this enough proof for you?" When he shook his head (kekkei genkai wolf transformation?), she sighed in exasperation. "Fine," she said sullenly, scowling. Her ears disappeared, to be replaced by black wolf ears. Two bushy tails, one and a half times the length of her body, appeared behind her. Kouseki released her cousin, walking forward to kneel in front of the old man. He felt the base of the ears, and confirmed that they were real, especially when they twitched when touched.

"Alright then," said the Third. He had to keep the talking going, lest everyone will start to sink into their own thoughts and brood. "Kouseki. I saw some of the reactions to Akina's, admittedly unusual, heritage. You were expecting them. Why?"

The grim smile returned, but on a human face, it looked so much more pronounced. Kouseki returned to Akina's side. "The mating of such different demons is unheard of in our world. Wolves and dragons are so different. One is a wild creature of the earth—of warm-blood. The other, a cold-blooded creature of the sky, with noble blood running through their veins. Akina-chan's birth caused an uproar all throughout Makai. I told you that her mother was the heiress of the last dragon clan, right?" There were some nods. "It was Amaya-sama's duty to continue her bloodline, but instead she chose a youkai completely out of her reach. Akina-chan is what you would call a Forbidden Child. Her very existence goes against so many beliefs and customs..."

Akina turned her head towards Tsunade. "Tsunade-sama. What time is it?"

The busty lady blinked, then looked at the small watch on her wrist. "10:27...why?"

But Akina didn't answer—she only turned her head towards Kouseki, who nodded. "Ten more minutes," said the wilder demoness.

"Ten more minutes until _what_?" Sasuke sounded a bit pissed off. What else could they reveal at this point? What other secrets have they been keeping?

Kouseki just grinned at the Uchiha. "Why, ten more minutes until Akina-chan's birthday, of course!"

"Kouseki," came Akina's low voice, a little reproving. The older demon pouted, but didn't try to aggravate the boy anymore. Akina turned her head towards Sasuke. "Sasuke, on a youkai's thirteenth birthday, the full extent of their demon blood starts to appear and grow. I will be receiving the first of my true demon forms tonight at exactly 10:37 pm, the time of my birth."

"Nine more minutes now!" Cried out Kouseki—cheerful now—as if she had not just been reprimanded by her younger cousin. Despite the situation, everyone could not stop the sweat drops from appearing on the back of their heads.

"Err...okay then," muttered Kakashi, who had snapped out of his funk. He waved his hand a little, attracting Akina's attention. "Akina-chan? Is there anything else you want to tell us before you, er, 'receive the first of your true demon forms'?"

"Like the reason Kouseki referred to your mom in past tense, and your dad in present tense," suggested Jiraiya. Kouseki shot him an aggravated glare. That was an extremely personal question. It wasn't even relative to their conversation. Tsunade knew this as well, because she elbowed the white-haired man in the side, earning satisfying "Ow!".

Akina just shook her head. Kouseki butted in, talking for her cousin again. "At least, nothing that you need to know."

"_Sasuke. Naruto."_

Silence reigned once more. Everyone—human, beast, and demon—let their thoughts take over. It was another eight minutes before Akina got a reply.

"_...What?"_ Sasuke. Naruto just poked both of their minds, quiet for once.

"_There's more to this, but I would rather tell you at home."_

"_Hn."_

Akina's entire body suddenly tensed, bringing everyone's attention on her again. As if anticipating this, Kouseki immediately took off her dark blue haori and draped it over her cousin's body, who was now seated on the ground. Tsunade glanced back down at her watch. 10:37 on the dot.

Everyone watched with a sense of fascination as Akina transformed. They just couldn't tear their eyes away from it. Gradually, her long hair receded, and a thin layer of black fur started to sprout from her skin. Her nose started to transform into a snout, and her body shrunk. Her clothes seemed to fuse with her skin, eventually disappearing. In five minutes, they couldn't even see Akina anymore. All they saw was a small lump underneath the haori.

Kouseki crouched down, balancing on the balls of her feet. With a flourish, she lifted the haori, yelling out "Taa-daa!". A small newborn wolf pup was revealed, her eyes scrunched closed and her ears flattened against her skull. Kouseki picked up the ball of fluff, roughly the size of Akamaru. Akina's body went limp, since Kouseki was holding her by the scruff. The older demoness grinned again and held Akina up for everyone to see, relishing in the stunned expressions. But when she saw that Kakashi had started to space out again, she frowned.

"Oi scarecrow!" He blinked. "Heads up!" And she threw her cousin to the jounin, who caught his student on reflex. Akina stayed limp, resigned to being showcased. Kakashi held up Puppy Akina in front of his eye and examined her for a minute, just staring. Then, "You make a very cute wolf cub, Akina-chan!" And he rubbed the top of her head, smiling happily. He continued on with this, making comments about the fluffiness of her fur, how small she was, and such and such, until Akina decided that he'd had enough fun trying to get a rise out of her. Keyword: Trying. The meeting was still going on, after all.

"Kakashi-sensei," she started, then she stopped talking abruptly. Kakashi stopped his teasing too, opting to just stare at her again with a wide eye. All around them, shocked gazes were directed at the small youkai.

_My voice...it's so...high-pitched. Like a child's._

Kouseki burst out laughing, clutching at her sides. "Buahahaha! Akina-chan...you sound like a four-year-old!"

Many of the Animal Clan Heads shifted uncomfortably. Akina wasn't the type of person—demon—that you could laugh at. There was simply nothing _to_ laugh at. But when there was, they just wouldn't dare. Only Kouseki had the gall to do so.

When the laughs had trickled down into small chuckles here and there, the Sandaime Hokage stood up and stretched out his muscles, which had started to become numb. "Well, if that's all, I'll be leaving now." He nodded at Kouseki as the two Sannin stood as well. "This meeting has given me a lot to think about. I might summon you two later for a chat."

Kouseki gave him a strange look. "But you're retired!"

He just chuckled. "True, but apparently I still have to do some of the paperwork."

"Ah, too bad then. Good luck on that! And...I think this is a given, but I want everyone in this cave to keep this information a secret."

"Arigatou. And I understand. This meeting, and the information given in it, will now be classified as a S-Class Village Secret." He, Tsunade, and Jiraiya disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

("Kouseki-sama. Akina-sama,") called out the old tiger. ("We will also classify this meeting, and the information given in it, as a S-Class secret.")

Kakashi stood up and tossed Akina over to Sasuke, who also caught the bundle of fur out of instinct. The Snake Clan Head slithered over from his seat, stopping in front of the two genin and leaning in closer. Sasuke clutched Akina tighter to his chest in apprehension, not quite trustful of snakes anymore after the Forest of Death fiasco. After flicking his tongue in and out a few times, the snake seemed satisfied, because he just nodded and slithered away.

Some other Animal Clan Heads also came over to check out Akina's new animal form—like the Hawk, Panther, Mountain Lion, and Wolf Clan Heads—but otherwise, the meeting had been adjourned, releasing the beasts to go home.

Sasuke stood up, still holding a silent Akina in his arms. He looked down to his right to peer at Naruto, who was still out of it. He kicked him, startling the boy out of his daze.

"Oi, dobe. Wake up. We're leaving."

Naruto stood up quickly, glaring, though there was no malice in it. "Alright! Geeze. You didn't have to be so damn rough. You could have just nudged me or something."

Sasuke smirked. "Yeah, but kicking you was more fun."

"TEME!"

Kouseki walked over to the two, stretching and yawning after putting her haori back on. All traces of her demon heritage had been hidden again. "Alright you two. As much as I wanna see you beat each other up, I wanna get home and sleep more. There's also the fact that you're still holding my cute little cousin there."

Naruto stared blankly at her, not quite used to Kouseki when she wasn't in her wolf form.

Kouseki stopped at his look and blinked. "What? You don't like?" She did a sexy pose, grinning and laughing when all she got in response was an eye twitch.

Kakashi sighed as he strolled over. "Same old Kouseki."

The demoness gave him a mock-offended look. "Of course! Just because I'm in my human form doesn't mean I'll be any less like myself!"

A thought occurred to Sasuke as he handed Akina over to Naruto, who held her gently as if she were going to break at the slightest jar.

"Kouseki." She hummed, telling him she was listening. "How long is Akina going to be like this?"

"Hmm...I'm pretty sure that she's supposed to stay in this form for a full day, then she'll switch to her dragon form for another day."

"Hn."

"Wait, dra—" But Naruto was cut off by Kakashi, who had already executed the Shunshin no jutsu to transport them back to Team Seven's house.

Naruto didn't even let the smoke clear before he rounded on the copy-nin. "OI! KAKA-SENSEI! WHAT THE HELL!"

Kakashi just laughed and waved once before disappearing with another round of smoke.

Kouseki waved impatiently at the smoke, forcing it out of existence with her small amount of wind manipulation. All the window shutters were closed, so she was safe in her human form as long as she stayed inside.

Sasuke had been opening his mouth to say something, but Kouseki cut him off, much like Sasuke himself had done to Naruto earlier. "Questions later. Showers now. This might take a while, so we all might as well get ready for bed before we even start."

Any chance of protesting was abolished when Kouseki snatched Akina out of Naruto's arms and disappeared.

With a sigh, Naruto turned to an irritated Sasuke. "You first or me?"

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

On the soft carpet floor of her room, Akina was getting used to moving with four legs instead of two. She stood up with no problem, and took small careful steps towards her older cousin, who was seated on the other side of the room, by the door.

Kouseki was pouting. "Akina-chaaaaan! Talk! I wanna hear your voice again!"

The younger youkai ignored her cousin, preferring to focus on learning how to walk properly.

"Say: 'Kouseki—silence.' And then I'll shut up and leave you alone...maybe."

Akina started to pick up speed, circling around her room at a steady trot.

"Or: 'Shut up, Kouseki.' Yeah, that would be better. You _never_ say things like that."

Kouseki continued on with her relentless teasing, not even minding the fact that she was participating in a one-sided conversation. After another fifteen minutes or so, the door opened, and Sasuke and Naruto were treated with the sight of a wolf pup jumping on and off of the bed.

"...Eh?"

Akina hopped back onto the bed, taking a seat on the blanket. Naruto walked forward to sit next to the smaller form of his teammate, while Sasuke took Akina's desk chair and dragged it over in front of the two. Kouseki closed the door and went to sit on Akina's other side, a smirk on her face.

"Saa...this reminds me disturbingly of an interrogation scene."

Sasuke glared at her. "This _is_ an interrogation scene."

The smirk only grew wider, but it disappeared and was replaced by a scowl when Akina nudged her with a small paw. Sasuke leaned forward in his chair and rested his chin behind his folded fingers. The glare remained on his face, but it no longer shined with malice. He turned his stern gaze towards Akina, who straightened up her posture to show him that she was paying attention.

"Akina. You said that there was more to what you two were saying back in that cave."

She tilted her muzzle downwards. "My mother was killed," she started, totally disregarding the uncomfortable winces from Kouseki and Naruto at the bluntness of the statement, and the sound of her child-like voice. Sasuke's fingers tightened their grip on each other, and his eyes narrowed. "My father was the youngest of the children of the previous head, but he wanted the position that our oldest uncle was to receive. It's a forbidden art, but youkai are able to absorb the power of the other youkai that they kill, under the right conditions. My father murdered my mother and her family, just a week after I was born, in order to challenge Uncle once more as a youkai with three tails more than he previously had. He lost, and disappeared. I was left behind with my father's wolf pack—Kouseki's family."

Kouseki picked up the rest of the story, seeing as Akina had fallen silent again, probably thinking about her past. "We raised her for six years, but our Pack Council had decided that she wasn't safe in Makai anymore, with her bastard of a father still out there somewhere. We brought her to the Eastern Gate, and made a deal with Seiryuu-sama, her ancestor, to take her to Ningenkai under my care. He agreed to transport his last living descendant and I, at the cost of five tails of chakra and her life in Makai. Akina-chan had to give up the first six years of her life, in order to start over again in this world—literally."

An unearthly breeze swirled around Akina's room, sending shivers up the spines of Sasuke and Naruto. Akina's head had lifted again, and she was now scenting the air.

"Seiryuu-sama?"

Approval seemed to ride on the wind, and it vanished a moment later, leaving behind the four thoughtful occupants of the room to bask in another bout of silence.

Sasuke stared at the small wolf demon pup, black eyes darkening and losing focus. _Her past...it's so similar to mine—it's eerie. But there's a difference. She doesn't—can't—remember her family being killed, and she still had family to take care of her afterwards, even if she can't recall it. I didn't. But...she understands the loss and betrayal that I had to experience. _

The black eyes refocused, and he stared at Naruto, who seemed lost in his own thoughts. "Oi, Naruto no baka."

Blue eyes jerked back into the real world, and the Uzumaki glared. "What?"

Sasuke lowered his hands, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "Well, what's your story? Might as well get it all out right now," he muttered. "Akina and Kouseki are off the hook...for now."

Kouseki just laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of her neck. _Hmm...I feel like I'm forgetting something..._

The two boys stared at each other, not blinking, until Naruto relented, sighing. Wordlessly, he lifted up his black pajama shirt and channeled his chakra. The Shiki Fuujin seal faded into existence, bold black on a background of tan flesh.

Sasuke and Kouseki traced the seal with their eyes. Feeling his tenseness, Akina head-butted his side, snapping him out of his nervous stupor.

"Dobe...what's this?"

The shirt was dropped, and instead of looking into the eyes of his teammates (for he considered Kouseki a teammate as well), he pulled Akina onto his lap and laid a hand on her furry little head. Akina stayed still, allowing him to touch her.

"This is where the red chakra came from."

"Dobe, we're not going to be moving from these spots until you spit it out. That sentence didn't tell us _shit._"

When Naruto didn't answer, Akina turned and pressed her cold, wet snout against his hand. Kouseki's hand twitched, and claws sprouted. She flexed it threateningly towards the unnaturally mute boy, who looked at it warily.

"You're not seriously gonna—OI!" He slapped a hand to his face, where Kouseki had given him a thin cut. Naruto took off his hand and looked at it, seeing blood. Sasuke stared at the cut as it hissed and steamed, disappearing. All that was left as evidence of the small wound was the blood on the boy's face and hand.

Kouseki grinned in response to the affronted look. "Sorry. Got a little too excited there."

"Akina-chaaaan! Control Kouseki-chan!"

She merely shrugged her shoulders.

"Naruto!" Came Sasuke's low voice, sharp and cutting. "What the fuck was that?"

Naruto threw up his arms in defeat. "FINE! I'll talk! Just..." His voice got quiet again. "Just promise not to jump to conclusions."

"Like you do?" Sasuke brushed off Naruto's glare. _Good, his spirit's back. A quiet Naruto is just...wrong. _"Look, it can't be any more surprising than these two being youkai."

The demon vessel took a deep breath, before beginning. His gaze focused on a spot on the wall opposite him. "13 years ago, on October 10th, a Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked the village. It was so powerful...Konoha was losing—until the Yondaime Hokage joined the battle, riding alone on the back of Gamabunta, the Toad Boss. Seconds later, after a flash of blinding white light, the fox disappeared. The Yondaime had sacrificed his life to kill the threat to the village that he loved."

No one said anything. The two who could see were watching as the sky blue eyes darkened, lost in memories. "At least, that's the story that Oyaji told everyone. But that's what it was—just a story, a lie. The Yondaime Hokage wasn't alone. In his arms was a newborn baby. He knew that he couldn't kill the Kyuubi, so instead, he made a deal with the Shinigami. In exchange for his soul, he had the God of Death seal the Kyuubi into the stomach of that newborn baby." Like Akina, all those months ago, Sasuke already knew the answer before the next sentence was uttered. "I was that baby. The Kyuubi no Kitsune was sealed into me."

Kouseki just grinned and cuffed the boy. He looked up, spluttering in protest. "Bakayaro-chan! Akina and me are both youkai. We're not in any position to judge you."

But when Sasuke didn't say anything, Naruto forced himself to meet those coal black eyes. The two fought each other in a battle of stares once more. The two females waited patiently.

Then suddenly, a smirk appeared on Sasuke's face. "Heh. So that red chakra is the Kyuubi's?"

Naruto frowned, nodding slowly. "Yeah..."

"So it wasn't really you that beat that Gaara kid? Figures. You couldn't handle him by yourself, so you had to call for help."

"OI! The stupid fox didn't beat Gaara up, I did! I just got a little power up..."

"You called for help."

"How is this any different than your Sharingan?!"

A snort interrupted their argument, and the two turned to see Kouseki start laughing. When she saw the offended looks on their faces, Kouseki only laughed harder.

Naruto scowled and looked away. "Why are you laughing?"

Kouseki stopped, but the mirth was still dancing in her golden eyes. "You idiot. Obviously, the three of us don't care what happened to you at birth. It's not like it's your fault, right?"

Sasuke sighed and got up, returning the chair to its original position. As he was walking out of the room, Naruto called him back, and the Uchiha hovered in the doorway of Akina's room.

"Thanks for listening...Sasuke-teme."

"Yeah, whatever." He paused again as he was walking out, as something in his instincts told him that something was still not quite right. Sasuke looked over his shoulder at the two youkai. "Is there anything else you want to add?"

When Akina nodded her furry head, Sasuke and Naruto waited for her to talk. But after a minute of silence, Kouseki snorted again, attracting their attention.

"It looks like Akina-chan's either used up her communicative skills for the week, or she can't tell you right now." She grinned, showing off her fangs. "Probably both."

They all looked at the wolf pup, who by then had curled up on her pillow on the bed to go to sleep. She was right, though. Akina _had_ been forced to talk much more than usual.

_And I guess now that Akina-chan's a wolf puppy, she can't do normal human things. She doesn't have opposable thumbs, or even hands anymore. Hehe. She probably needs those to tell us...whatever she needs to tell us,_ thought Naruto, amused. Then, a thought popped into his head. "Oi, Kouseki-chan?" He asked the older cousin, seeing as Akina had stopped talking over ten minutes ago.

One of Kouseki's eyebrows popped up. By then, Sasuke had returned to his room to sleep. "Yeah?" Her voice was a bit quieter now.

"How big is Akina-chan gonna be when she becomes a dragon?"

A thoughtful look came onto Kouseki's face. She scratched the back of her head. "Honestly, I don't really know. The dragon clans have always been secretive about their little ones. It's actually rare to see a dragon who isn't at least in their late teens. And by then, if they only have one tail, than they're at least a bit taller than the Hokage Tower."

Naruto blinked. "That's pretty big." _I don't wanna be squished tomorrow!_ "What about you, Kouseki-chan?"

A playful grin made its way onto her face. "What _about_ me?"

"Well, how many tails do you have? How big are you?"

"Let's just say that I'm big enough to smash you under my paw in my full demon form."

Despite the low volume, Naruto could not help but grimace in apprehension as Kouseki started cackling rather evilly.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

The next day, despite the mind-blowing revelations about Akina and Kouseki, Team Seven was still put to work in the rebuilding of the village. Right at the crack of dawn, Naruto had been sent off to replant some of the crops in the outer farms, seeing as he had done such a good job at harvesting in the fall. Kouseki (in wolf form again) had been summoned by Tsunade, so Sasuke was stuck with watching over Akina, since obviously she couldn't be left alone in such a defenseless body.

At first, he'd thought that she'd be a burden throughout the day. After all, all she did was drape herself limply over his shoulder. But when the fan girls had successfully surrounded them, Akina just so happened to sneeze, sending a sonic-boom that pushed the rabid females towards the sides of the street, dazed or unconscious. Smirking, Sasuke had lifted his teammate and settled her on top of his head, like Kiba was often seen doing with Akamaru.

Maybe she wasn't much of a burden after all.

When Akina had been switched off to Naruto, the two had gone off to Training Area Seven, where the Memorial was located. Or rather, Naruto had carried Akina over there to play with her. The girl had decided to indulge the boy in his sudden urge to have a pet, even though that 'pet' was really his teammate. Naruto asked Akina if they could play tag, Red Hands, and catch. Akina figured that they'd all help with getting used to her wolf form, so she had shrugged in compliance.

Kakashi had stopped by after an hour or so to stare at the Memorial, deciding on a whim to summon his ninken to play as well. Pakkun called her 'Okami-hime', bowing his head once in respect. The others followed his lead.

"Neh, neh, Pakkun! Why are you calling her a hime-chan?"

Pakkun jumped up and smacked Naruto's head with his paw. "Baka! Her uncle is the Head of the Okami Clan! She's nobility!"

Naruto pouted and looked the other way. He really didn't see the point of giving someone respect for which family they were born in. It didn't make much sense to him. Respect had to be earned, in his opinion. Not that Akina didn't have his utmost respect (She did!), but still.

That night, everyone gathered again to witness her second transformation—same time, same place. Not knowing how big she would be when transformed, Kouseki had immediately carried her younger cousin over to an isolated clearing. Ten minutes later, an amused looking Kouseki (in human form) walked back, followed closely by Akina. Several Clan Heads moved closer to get a good look at her.

Kouseki grinned. "Congratulations, folks! You all are probably the first outsiders in hundreds of thousands of years to see a dracling this young!"

Akina's dragon form was about twice the size of Kouseki in her usual wolf form. Her body was a bit on the leaner side, and her metallic black, scaly hide looked smooth. Dull spikes jutting outwards and back framed the sides of her head, and the makings of horns could be seen. Akina's wings were currently folded tight against her body. A long tail trailed behind her.

The ethereal wind returned, swirling around the young dragon. All fliers and reptiles bowed lowly.

Release your wings, it said.

Naruto resisted the urge to flinch at the unexpected voice. _What was that?_ Kakashi caught this, and a sneaking suspicion about his elemental affinity was aroused.

With a dull snap, Akina unfurled her wings. They were both easily over twice the length of her body, tail not included. The wind caught on her wings, lifting her up and making her hover a foot off the ground. The sense of belonging washed over her for a split second before disappearing with the wind. She dropped back onto the ground, folding her wings again.

"UUUUUUUAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Naruto bounced out of his seat, going over to place a hand on her shoulder. His face brightened into an awed smile. "Sugoi! So warm!"

Kakashi and Tsunade resisted the urge to palm their faces in fond exasperation. The rest just smirked or chuckled. Typical Naruto—ignoring the fact that the meeting of the Animal Clan Heads was still going on.

Kouseki grasped both of Naruto's arms from behind, frog-marching him back to his seat. He sat back down, though he was now wearing a pout.

"Alright then," she started. "What are we gonna do about her flying lessons? Obviously she can't be seen..."

The Hawk Clan Head and the Owl Clan Head lifted off of their perches, gliding over to land on Akina's scaled back. It didn't look like she even felt the razor sharp talons grasp at her hide. ("Akina-sama needs a place of high altitude in order to learn,") said the daylight bird. He'd have to go to sleep in an hour, but he still wanted to help.

("The only concealed location for that is here. We should start now,") continued the hunter of the night, rotating her head around to stare unblinkingly at the humans, as Kouseki translated.

Some Clan Heads sighed, knowing that they'd have to all stay in here for the night, as well as the entire day and night tomorrow. They needed to make sure that their cover was not blown after all. The only way to make sure that this cave was kept private was if the Council was in session.

One by one, the ninja got up to leave. The Sandaime and Jiraiya went first. Tsunade went afterwards, but before she left, she told Akina that she was to report to her office the morning after she returned to human form.

Team Seven walked up to Akina, who hadn't moved since the two birds had seated themselves on her back. They said good-bye, since they wouldn't be seeing her for the whole day tomorrow. Kakashi shunshined them out, leaving Akina to practice flying by jumping off of the highest branches of the Konoha Tree.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Tsunade folded her fingers on her desk, letting her hazel colored eyes rest on the two ninja before her, standing at attention. It'd taken a while, considering the invasion, but the recommendations and reports from each of the proctors had finally been evaluated and discussed. Now all she needed to do was break the news.

Nara Shikamaru suppressed the sigh, already tired of standing at attention for the last two minutes. He glanced to the side, rolling his eyes mentally. Of course, his enigma of a former classmate had no problems with this. Shikamaru knew why the two were here, though he was not really surprised that Akina had gotten this far, for some reason. He _did_, however, feel some sort of pity for her when it had been announced that she was to be on the same team as the ever so bright Uzumaki Naruto, and the antisocial Uchiha Sasuke—even if he knew that she would have been the only one that could stand their inevitable squabbles.

"Nara Shikamaru. Takamaru Akina. I assume you both know why you are here?"

Shikamaru turned his attention back to the Godaime Hokage. He resisted the urge to slouch again. "Chuunin exams," he grunted.

Tsunade didn't even bat an eyelash at his behavior. She'd worked with Nara men before, after all. "Correct, as expected."

She took out two chuunin flak jackets from the bag beside her, handing them to the newly instated chuunin. Both returned to their former positions. Akina and Shikamaru took off their respective jackets, replacing them with the symbols of their new ranks.

"Congratulations you two, on earning the rank of chuunin. You, Nara Shikamaru, were recommended to be promoted because of the showing of your ability to plan in advance and strategize in the heat of battle. Takamaru Akina, you were recommended by various jounin for your actions during war-time, where you showed your ability to organize incompatible groups and command them efficiently, as well as your willingness to sacrifice yourself for the good of Konoha—in the right circumstances."

Shikamaru didn't show any outward reactions to this information, though Akina could sense that he was intrigued. He hadn't been told of the reason for her coma, it seems.

"From this point on," continued the Godaime, "you will no longer have to carry out D-Rank missions—unless of course, they are being used as punishment." Her lips twitched in unison with Shikamaru's eye twitch. It was more like cruel and unusual punishment. "The majority of your missions will be C-Rank, with some team B-Rank missions once you get some experience. As chuunin you will be looked upon by others as leaders, so shape up! Dismissed!"

The two, now chuunin, about-faced and left through the door, but as they were leaving, Tsunade decided to test something out. She injected minute traces of second thoughts about her last order into her aura. The door closed, and she let loose a smirk, leaning back in her chair and glancing back down at the bag beside her on the floor. She released the genjutsu and closed the blinds, just before a cloud of smoke erupted in the center of her office.

Akina returned to the spot that she just left, but she was now wearing her ANBU attire, the blank '55' mask turned towards her. The smirk on Tsunade's face widened.

"Hmm. Your sense of perception is impressive," she said.

"I agree." Akina didn't even twitch a muscle as the ANBU Commander melted out from the shadows. "That's a good trait to have in the ANBU Corps. It'll keep you alive—hopefully."

Tsunade took a mask out of the bag, placing it in the Commander's outstretched hand. He went to stand in front of Akina. "Takamaru Akina, considering the fact that your first true ANBU mask is now being used for another persona, we were forced to give you another. It was interesting choosing this second mask, seeing as this has never happened before." He gave her the mask, going quiet to let her examine it.

Akina ghosted her fingers over the mask, taking in its contours. Judging from the spikes tips of the ears, and the feline nature of the mask, it depicted a lynx. Covering the lower right side was a painted dew drop, like one half of the yin-yang symbol—though the nose was not painted. Opposite that were three slash marks. In the middle of its forehead were two vertically narrow arrowheads, facing outwards, opposite each other. There was a subtle frown on its face, a little accentuated by the slightly narrowed eyes.

When she was finished, Akina took off her trainee mask, her eyes closed as always. She replaced it with the lynx mask.

The ANBU Commander nodded in approval. "You'll be meeting up with your new squad tomorrow. Here." He handed her a slip of paper. She quickly memorized it, then burned it in her hands. "You'll still continue your activities as the Shishou no Ryuuki, as this squad often gets split up for bodyguard missions."

His job done, he simply disappeared. No cloud of smoke. No chakra.

"Takamaru Akina." Akina tilted her head in question. "Sensei wishes you luck."

"Arigatou gozaimasu," she murmured softly. With a salute, she exited using the universal Shunshin.

The first thing that she registered when she had reappeared in Team Seven's house was the fact that everyone was home. Then, it was the weight of her cousin on her back.

"Kouseki."

The older youkai quickly backed off, maneuvering around her cousin to peer curiously at her mask. Naruto peeked out of his room, spotting the girls right away. He blinked.

"They gave a half-wolf demon a cat mask?"

Sasuke also came out of his room, rather irritated by the increase in noise, after it had been quiet for a hour. He stopped at the sight of Akina in her ANBU garb.

"Chuunin?" He asked. Akina nodded and gestured in the general direction of her room, indicating that the proof of her promotion was in there. "Hn."

She'd told them about her two other persona the night before, ANBU Trainee 55 and Shishou no Ryuuki, and they were expectedly shocked—but they had accepted it, after some grumbling from Naruto. Akina had needed to wait so long because she had sealed her stuff away in a scroll, and she couldn't really summon them in her other forms.

Naruto came close and reached out to touch the various parts of her mask. He described the colors, for Kouseki's sake. "Dark gray eyes and ear triangle things. Black outlines for the ears. Red slash marks. Blue swirl thingy. Blue gray triangles on her forehead. White nose." He paused and tilted her head. "Aren't they give all the ANBU a codename? What's yours, Akina-chan?"

"...Jubaku."

Kouseki's eyebrows rose. "Curse? Hmm. So if you're sent on a search and destroy mission, it'd be like your bosses are placing a curse on the targets, neh?" Snort. "They have a weird sense of humor."

"Like you have the right to say that!"

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Akina settled down into a comfortable position up in a tree in their backyard. This way, everyone wouldn't have to wonder where she was. All they had to do was look out a window.

She breathed out deeply, letting her mind slip away into a meditative trance. When she immediately dropped into the familiar white mist area of her mindscape, she couldn't help but start in surprise. It took over _five_ minutes the last time, and she had to go through two of her mental barriers to do so.

The large white wolf appeared out of the mist again, bowing its head in respect. It touched her head gently with its snout, and Akina found herself right in front of the wall. With a nuzzle to her neck, it disappeared. _Hmm. More affectionate than last time._ That contemplative pause for observation over, she stepped through the wall, finding herself once again in the beautiful green paradise.

Except, something was different. The last time, there were no signs of anyone or anything in habiting the area. There were now fresh paw-prints in the dirt. A roar in the distance echoed, and she could vaguely hear the flapping of wings. With a tiny smile, she realized that unlike when she was outside of the walls, she had her regular abilities back. Meaning, she could tell that a dragon was flying towards her.

Akina watched with a sense of fascination as the black dragon came closer. It was still strange for her to see how the light created shadows. She'd only been able to use the shadows through instinct, after all.

The dragon landed a few yards away from her, and Akina immediately noted that it looked extremely familiar. The two stared each other down. Green eyes and icy-blue eyes. _It looks like...me._

Her mirror-image seemed to smile, two neat rows of fangs showing for a brief moment. **"I see that you know who, or rather, **_**what**_** I am."**

Akina could only ask, "Why?"

Akina-ryuu tilted her head. **"Why what?"**

The girl didn't reply. She just continued to stare unflinchingly into the other's eyes.

A delicate snort was released from the dragon. **"That stare of yours. That's your wolf blood coming into effect. But let me tell you this now, Akina-chan. You can't intimidate me that way."** Actually, Akina actually had had no intention of intimidating her. She didn't even realize she was staring like that. Akina-ryuu nodded to herself. **"But I suppose I should be polite and introduce myself, ne?"** She didn't wait for a response. **"I am the mental manifestation of your dragon demon blood. You may refer to me as Ryuu."**

Akina nodded once, then glanced meaningfully at the paw-print marks.

Ryuu shook her scaled head. **"I'll introduce you to Okami later. There are several things you must know before meeting her. But first, a warning."** Icy-blue eyes hardened. **"Stop transforming."**

The line of Akina's lips tilted down. Did this have anything to do with the pain that she felt after being in her other forms for a while? She'd thought that it had just been the strain of not being used to transforming. But this order set off warning bells.

Ryuu turned around and walked into the forest without another word, wings tucked comfortably against her body. Akina was forced to follow. Now that she wasn't in a dire situation, she finally had the time to examine her surroundings, including the curious bunches of fruit growing in the freakishly tall trees. She looked at the fruit growing off of a hanging vine as they walked by, and she caught the scent of white lilies and sadness wafting from one. _The funeral._ The fruits were memories. And obviously, since she had lived through them with no sight, the fruit wouldn't give off images.

Akina's eyes drifted around her. As they got closer to the heart of the Forest of Memories, the number and variety of fruits did not decrease, but halfway to the heart, the fruits simply ceased to exist. The Memory Fruits of the first six years of her life were not there. There was also another difference. There were no paw-prints in this area. Her wolf demon self, whose tracks were everywhere, stayed away from this area.

"**It's because Okami knows that if the fruits were here, then she—you—would be back with the pack, rather than in Ningenkai, and we wouldn't even be in this situation to begin with." **Pale green eyes settled on the back of Ryuu's head. **"And yes, I _do_ know what you are thinking. You are me, and I am you. And we are inside your mindscape, a place where you cannot lie."**

The two reached the bottomless black pool. Both pairs of eyes were attracted to the hanging egg, its bottom just brushing against the surface of the water. But there was a small scratch on the top of the egg. Considering the fact that this egg symbolized her soul, this was troubling indeed.

"**It has begun."**

And Akina nodded in reply, not surprised at what she was seeing. She motioned towards the tree next to them, making a small root pierce out of the earth and creating a makeshift bench. Akina sat down, not taking her eyes off of the scratch on her soul. Ryuu lay down, resting her head on the ground.

There had been two things inside the message from the Shinigami. One was her assignment. The other more personal. And the first had been rather caustic and blunt, but it was the reason why she was not at all surprised at what she was seeing.

It wasn't natural for three beings to share one mind. Whether they were mental manifestations of her two demon bloods or not, the strain on her mind was not good for her. Normally, if a demon had more than two types of blood running though their veins, if their natures clashed enough, they had to spend the first ten years of her life integrating them in order to really begin to live. If they didn't, they'd live the rest of their lives feeling incomplete.

Akina most likely did that for the first _six_ years of her life, but that didn't really matter, seeing as she couldn't remember doing so. The progress was like working a muscle. If you stopped, it'd start to slowly regress—exponentially—again.

And Shinigami-sama had told her this, and one other thing, which just so happened to be more pressing a problem.

Okami. By the size of the tracks, and Ryuu's form, Okami was most likely a small, newborn wolf cub. That wasn't natural either. She should be a teenage wolf, not a baby. Shinigami-sama had told her that it was because of the lack of memories, period.

In okami youkai, the wolf demon blood becomes active from birth, unlike dragons, though obviously not to their full potential until puberty. As the youkai grows, it matures mentally and learns, just like humans. If the memories of that growth are taken away, it's like the youkai has never grown. All first six years of her life had been taken away, and throughout all the years after that, until now, her demon blood had been put in a dormant state. The dragon in her had no problem doing this, as dragons were notorious for being able to sleep for millenniums at a time. The wolf _did_ have a problem with that. Her mind was now made up of two parts 13-year-old, one part newborn—a newborn with the knowledge that something was very wrong with it.

If Akina didn't do something, the state of her wolf demon mentality would start to erode over time, going insane, unable to cope with the pressures of an older being's life. This would put an extreme strain on her mind, and the insanity would start to spread to the other parts of her mind. With her wolf demon blood 'malfunctioning' and the spreading dementia, her soul would fracture and eventually shatter. The only way to fix this problem was if she got her memories back, then merged herself with both her inner dragon and inner wolf to keep balanced.

And the Shinigami had offered to do just that—give back her memories...for a price. That's where her assignment came in. She had to track down and kill all those that opposed the Shinigami, or went against his laws, and she had to make sure that it didn't happen again.

Akina was to essentially become his attack dog on the mortal planes, seeing as the gods had to do everything indirectly, prohibited from interfering with the lives of those that they ruled over. That was why she had to get stronger. Only the truly powerful were able to actually disobey the laws of the God of Death, and she had to be able to kill them.

Akina blinked, averting her eyes from the crack. "Did they know?"

Ryuu tilted her head to look up at the Core Soul, Akina. **"Did your wolf pack know about the possibility of an insanity problem? I don't know. Remember, I **_**also**_** don't have the memories."** She released a deep breath, sending a small heat wave to ripple the black pond. **"You are the first Forbidden Child to actually have her childhood memories taken away by a kami. That, coupled with the sealing of your demon blood, throws everything into unknown territory. We can only make assumptions, and only the kamis themselves know what can and/or will, happen." **Ryuu shook her head and got back up, stretching herself out. Calm, distant ice-blue eyes landed on Akina. **"Enough of this. You must make contact with Okami, before she does something stupid and messes with something she shouldn't."**

The girl didn't get up. "Only me?"

Ryuu gave the smallest hint of a grim sneer. **"Wolves are naturally wary of dragons, or did you forget? You won't be able to get anywhere near Okami with me nearby."** She nodded towards the tallest mountain peak in the distance. **"I make my home in a cave up top. If you can't find me here, then you can usually find me there. But,"** she added. **"I will stay here. I sense that you will still need for something after your...meeting."** She nudged the Core out of the clearing.

Ten minutes later, at the mouth of a dark cave, was where Akina found Okami, trying to get inside and failing. Every time she tried to cross the threshold, she seemed to run against in invisible barrier. Disgruntled, the wolf pup sunk onto the ground, not even noticing the fact that someone had been observing her. She probably didn't because, unlike Ryuu and Okami, Akina actually belonged in this mindscape.

Akina figured that the cub had had enough time to sulk, so she double-backed a few paces and walked towards Okami again, making sure to step on a twig. At the sound of the snap, the small black head shot up in her direction. The snout was thrust into the air, and the cub scented Akina, tilting her head.

"**Okaa-chan?"** Came the tiny, plaintive voice.

Akina paused in surprise, but kept going. "Iie."

Okami's head drooped for a moment, before bobbing back up again. **"Onee-chan?" **Her little voice was sad, with just a tinge of hope.

There were many tracks leading to and from this cave opening. Apparently this had become one of Okami's favorite haunts, and Akina knew why. Wolves liked to make their homes in caves. Okami must have thought that her family was inside that cave, and was hurt that she couldn't join them. She didn't understand that this was not really the world of reality—that this was Akina's mindscape, and that she was part of Akina.

Akina paused two yards away from the cub, sitting down cross-legged to take away the intimidation factor of being bigger. She shook her head. "Iie," she repeated.

But the wolf cub only nodded her head. **"Onee-chan,"** she said again, firmly, ignoring Akina's negative response. Okami got up, waddling towards Akina to climb into her lap. The cub, her ears still pressed against her skull, eyes sealed shut, turned towards the cave again. **"Otou-chan?"**

"Iie."

"**Otou-chan!"**

_This is getting nowhere._ "Iie, Okami-chan. Do you want me to check?"

Okami tilted her head. **"Che-cku?"** She echoed, slowly. A small, frustrated whine was released. She knew that she should know what that word meant—what Akina was asking. **"Che-cku...che-cku..."**

Akina tilted her head as well. "Do you want me to scout out the cave?" _Maybe if I use wolf pack terms..._

The small tail wagged once. **"Scout! Cave!"** She understood those two words.

Akina nodded and gently lifted the cub off of her lap and onto the ground. She got up and walked into the cave, the barrier not even hindering her progress towards the inner cavities.

Abruptly, it transformed into a large library. She went to the nearest shelf, curious, and picked up a blood red scroll. Most of this bookshelf was empty. Opening the scroll up, the bold red words of the Shinigami's assignment stared up at her. She frowned, putting the scroll back. She picked up another scroll, opening it. It was a record of the short instances of contact with the Shinigami.

Still frowning, she put back the scroll and stepped back to look at the library in its entirety. _This is...the Knowledge Room?_ It was neat, for the most part, but there were towering piles of books on the floors here and there, on the small tables, and flying around—as well as small pyramids of scrolls scattered about.

Eight old, tall bookshelves at the very back of the library caught Akina's attention. She didn't need to go closer to know that the thick chains, padlocks, and seals were the work of the Shinigami. Tucked into those shelves was everything that she learned in the first six years of her life. If you really thought about it, it made sense. You couldn't _unlearn_ something, like you could have your memories taken away. And without the memories to connect with that knowledge, she couldn't access it.

Satisfied for now, and making a mental note to come back and reorganize this place, Akina walked back out to find a little black bundle curled up at the mouth of the cave. Again, Okami didn't notice Akina coming, as whether she was a demoness or not, she was still a ninja—and ninjas were masters of stealth.

"Okami-chan."

Okami lifted up her head hopefully. **"Otou-chan?"**

"Iie." She was attracted to this place because hidden inside those walls were remnants of her past—Okami's life.

Akina picked the pup up, sensing her fatigue. Okami didn't protest, cuddling into Akina's chest and sighing sadly. The kunoichi took to the trees, searching through the surrounding mountains. Eventually she found another cave, perfect for a wolf pack. Akina quickly went inside and settled Okami onto a wolf pelt that smelled suspiciously like Kouseki, then disappeared, heading towards Ryuu.

She needed to experiment with something.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"Where are you going?"

Akina halted, her hand on the handle of the front door. She turned her head back towards the opening to the den. _Sasuke._ "I have to meet my new ANBU team."

Sasuke folded his arms, leaning back against the back of the couch. "How long are you going to be out?"

Akina patiently answered his questions, knowing full well that he didn't trust his team mates fully yet. "I don't know."

He seemed to sense that she was being completely honest, because he just nodded once, curtly. "Fine."

She opened the door, and right before the Uchiha's eyes, the girl—_No, demoness,_ he corrected himself—seemed to just fade out of existence, and the door closed by itself with a click, locking.

Akina jumped across the rooftops, enjoying the feel of the cool night air. She sped silently towards a secluded training area on the other side of the village, and as she came near, she could sense the barrier around it, just like the one around the Hokage's Training Area. She released her Henge, revealing her ANBU garb (with the cloak) and lynx mask.

Without another thought, Akina leaped into the training ground, gracefully avoiding setting off any of the multitude of complex traps laid out in the forest. In the distance, she sensed two other people, waiting. There were four people to a platoon, so she wasn't the last one there. When she reached the clearing that they were standing in, Akina stopped just before entering, opting to stay put on the high branch and observe.

The two ANBU standing under a tree to her left both resonated aura of experience, though one did so with more authority than the other. The one with more authority was a male, and from the tiny breeze, she could tell that he was wearing a turtle mask. _Most likely the captain._ The other was female, with long hair. She had a cat mask.

_Hmm? The captain's spiritual aura is familiar. Shiranui Genma-san? The Third Exam Finals Proctor?_ That brought her thoughts to the serpentine Second Exam Proctor, who acted like Naruto—and was approaching quickly. When she appeared in front of the other ANBU, Akina could sense a brief amount of amusement flicker in and out of their auras for a split second upon seeing Anko's mask. It was a grinning monkey.

"Oi, where's that rookie that's supposed to be here?" Came her gruff voice, slightly muffled because of the mask.

Genma lifted up a shoulder in a half-shrug. All of them were ten minutes early anyways, so there was no rush. It was now 9:50 pm.

Mitarashi Anko tilted her head, looking around the large clearing. Akina crouched comfortably on the tree branch, relaxed and still. She wasn't really putting that much effort into hiding—she just wanted to test the abilities of her new team mates. Despite her lack of effort, her chakra signature was virtually nonexistent, though she made sure to release a small amount of her spiritual aura for the others to possibly detect.

Anko's monkey mask turned and stilled, looking directly at Akina. The other two ANBU followed the monkey's mischievous gaze, and they finally spotted their fourth member. The lynx mask stared back, ever-frowning.

The bored looking turtle mask nodded towards Akina. "How long have you been there?"

Akina jumped out of the tree, landing next to the cat masked ANBU. "Long enough," she murmured quietly.

The four ANBU stood in a loose square, calmly assessing each other. She could sense that Genma was the only one that was surprised at her being there, considering the patrol duty long ago and the explosions in the Forest of Death.

A minute later, since it seemed that no one else wanted to speak, Genma spoke up, drawing their attention. "Since we're all here early, we might as well start now," he started in his slightly drawling voice. "As this is a new ANBU team, let's introduce ourselves—start by unmasking yourself, then state your name, code-name, rank, and highest abilities so that we can have some idea of where we stand in the group. That alright?" Everyone gave their assent, verbally or with a curt nod.

Anko went first, reaching up to put down her hood and take off her mask. She gave a shit-eating grin. "The name's Mitarashi Anko, if you didn't know—though I doubt it. I'm a returning ANBU who was reassigned from my last team. My code-name is Keisei—tokubetsu jounin. I'm a toxins expert, of course, and I have a high proficiency in genjutsu—with the stamina to back it up. You need any bastard interrogated on the spot, you bring him to me." The grin widened, and a bit of blood lust entered her aura.

Not at all fazed, the cat masked ANBU went next. The long purple-haired woman nodded towards her team mates after removing her mask. "Uzuki Yuugao, jounin. I'm the fukutaichou of this team, and you will refer to me as either Shiinto-fukutaichou or fukutaichou—nothing else. I'm on par with Gekkou Hayate in the art of kenjutsu, and all of its jutsu extensions."

Genma stepped into the conversation before Anko could comment about how anally formal the other woman was being. He unmasked himself, not surprising the two veteran ANBU with the fact that the expression on his face matched the one on his mask. "Yo. I'm Shiranui Genma, jounin, and I'm the captain of this platoon. You can call me Kinoe-taichou, or just taichou. I'm pretty good at ninjutsu, seals, and strategy."

All three turned towards Akina, and Anko made a show of leaning down, making fun of the fact that she was so much shorter than the others. Akina didn't react, simply tipping back her hood and shifting her mask higher on her head and out of her face. This time, everyone expressed surprise.

Keeping her eyes closed, she recited the required information in her low, quiet voice. "Takamaru Akina, chuunin. I am a newly promoted ANBU. I was given the code-name Jubaku, and excel in scouting, tracking, stealth operations in general, and taijutsu." _So my team mates are Siren, Deathly Silence, and Shell?_

Genma stared at her young face, recognizing her for who she was. _So this is what that Uzumaki kid meant about not being able to sense her?_

Anko, quickly recovering from her surprise, just laughed out loud, reaching out to pat the top of Akina's head. "Oi ochibi-chan, you're not gonna pull an Itachi on us are ya?"

Akina brushed off Anko's condescending hand. "I have no clan in Konoha, sempai," she answered simply.

"Sempai? Ha! Haven't been called _that_ in a while..."

"Right then," cut in Yuugao. She took charge, seeing as Genma was simply watching the proceedings. "If you haven't reached this conclusion yourself, let me tell you. This is a tactical support team, sent out after the first response teams when they get into trouble. Otherwise, we mainly pair off for guard missions and information gathering, which is the whole point of the ANBU-Shadow Division."

Genma nodded. "Of course, we'll still be sent out on assassination missions, but the Shadows are focused mainly on the defense of Konoha." He turned his brown eyes towards Anko and Akina. "Since you two are new to this platoon, Shiinto-fukutaichou and I need to test your abilities individually and as a team, so we're gonna have a spar, us against the two of you."

A minute later, Anko and Akina were hiding out in a tree on the outer borders of the training area. The former proctor raised an eyebrow at the girl from behind the porcelain mask. "Oi, ochibi—you take taichou, and I'll get the neko, 'kay? Just don't get in my way!"

Akina only tilted her head before nodding. _As you wish, sempai, but they want to test our teamwork, too..._ She leaped off of the branch and headed towards where she sensed their captain was, leaving Anko to watch in slight fascination. When Akina moved, it looked like she was gliding or flying through the trees, not jumping from branch to branch—and nothing was disturbed when she did so, leaving behind no traces of her being there. After five more branches, the girl just vanished from existence—no chakra signature or spiritual aura anywhere in the training area.

_Heh! A stealth master, eh? This'll be interesting..._

On the other side of the training area, Akina was forced to quickly duck a barrage of rock missiles. Crouched to the ground, she darted forward, intent on getting even closer. Genma got back up and into the tree, dodging the two outstretched fingers. On the ground still, the girl stopped and spun her body around, bringing up her other hand in Genma's direction, disappearing again. The branch he was standing on was disconnected with the rest of the tree with a sharp _CRACK!_, and the captain found himself starting up a bout of taijutsu with his subordinate in midair.

Genma smirked, countering the pressure point jabs with his own. Akina contorted her body into an uncomfortable looking manner, managing to inflict a cut on his neck from a high speed kick. A blast of cutting wind followed up immediately, but by then, Genma was already gone, with Akina hot in pursuit.

"Oi, Jubaku," the captain called behind him. His answer was a volley of shuriken. He let them fly harmlessly past him. "I need you to show me your _full_ potential, not this soft stuff. I want to know why they call you Jubaku, the Curse."

The shuriken that he just dodged came racing back in his direction, and Genma's eyes widened slightly. He grabbed the next tree branch and swung underneath it. To his amazement, the shuriken followed him. He formed hand seals as he went down to the ground. When he touched the earth, it just seemed to crumble and crack. Genma did a 180 and released his jutsu at Akina, who had just tapped the ground with her foot to break the earth.

_Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu._ The great fireball exploded at point blank range, and Genma didn't waste any time in distancing himself from the girl. A dull rumbling echoed behind him, and he risked a small glance behind him. Racing after him was the residue fire of the fireball he had just unleashed on his subordinate, measuring at about half the size of the original.

Up ahead were the two other kunoichi, locked in a close-range battle. Smirking again, Genma dashed towards Anko, changing directions at the last second. The fireball exploded in front of the two older females, separating into little fire bullets that only shot after the two commanding officers. They dodged, backing off.

Anko was a little ticked off at the interference, but she formed some rapid hand seals. Yuugao and Genma dodged to the side, avoiding the two air blades Akina sent that cut deep trenches into the earth.

The tokubetsu jounin lifted up her mask for a second, releasing an extremely large cloud of dark yellow smoke. _Dokugiri!_ Akina, a few yards away, quickly created oxygen bubbles around her and Anko's faces. She took control of the path of the poisonous smoke, forcing it to split into two and chase after and enshroud the turtle and the cat.

Grinning now, Anko cackled. "That's my special paralyzing poison! You should be losing control of your bodies right about now."

Both Yuugao and Genma slumped onto the ground—paralyzed, yet satisfied with their new subordinates. Akina jumped down next to Anko, who patted Akina's head again. She tossed a victory sign towards her superiors, the grinning monkey mask only serving to accentuate her childish behavior.

Anko walked towards her two victims, dangling a vile in front of their faces. "Here's the antidote. Want it?" The shuriken from before returned, making spinning rings of death around the necks of the taichou and fukutaichou. Both Akina and Anko could feel the 'of-course-you-idiot' look coming from Genma's face, even from behind the mask. Anko lifted up their masks and slipped the antidote down their throats, backing off a few feet and taking out a kunai, just in case.

When Genma could control his mouth again, he smirked, though no one could see it. "Alright, spar's over. You can relax now." The shuriken returned to Akina, who tucked them back into her ninja pouch. Anko put away the kunai.

Before Anko could begin bragging, Yuugao started talking, giving the results of the exercise. "Remember, this was only to test your abilities—the two of us weren't going full out on you two, hence the loss." She ignored Anko's yell of 'Denial! You would have lost anyways!'. "We already know how you fight, Keisei—this was more for our rookie." She nodded towards Genma, having regained movement of her head.

The captain cleared his throat. "Right then. When Jubaku said that she excelled in stealth operations, she wasn't overestimating herself. Through the entire fight, I couldn't even sense her presence, and I had to rely on my reflexes to fight her. It was...interesting. Everything I threw at her was sent back at me." The turtle mask tilted to the side. "Would you care to explain your methods?"

"Yeah," grunted Anko. "The flying shuriken thing was kinda weird."

"Once you release your control over your ninjutsu, the chakra begins to dissipate and return to nature. I have a much stronger connection with nature than most people, so I just have to take control of the leftover ninjutsu chakra, still in the form of the attack." Akina did not bother explaining the 'weird flying shuriken'.

Yuugao nodded thoughtfully. "Your name suits you. What you do is like turning your enemies' own attacks against them. A curse."

This time, Anko tried to give Akina a noogie, but she ducked out of the way, side-stepping towards a fully recovered Yuugao. "Aww! Ochibi-chaaaan! Lemme give you a noogie!"

_What's with her fascination with my head?_

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"Akina-chan, why do you smell like Sasuke-teme?"

In the living room of Team Seven's house, Kouseki shook her head—she was in wolf form. ("Don't say it like that, baka! It sounds unintentionally suggestive! And she smells like fire, not the gaki.")

Naruto shuddered, mentally blowing up his current train of thought. _Some things aren't meant to be pondered about..._ Shaking his head, Naruto grinned at the girl, who had stopped in the doorway after being addressed.

"Taichou used a fire jutsu."

"Right. Well anyways! Come back down here after you're done cleaning up, 'kay?"

Akina nodded, going upstairs to shower and change. Ten minutes later, she came back downstairs in her black pajamas, hair down and headband off.

Naruto jumped up and pushed her gently onto the couch next to Sasuke. "Alright! Now all we need to wait for is—"

A cloud of smoke erupted behind the Uzumaki, who had sat himself down on the arm chair opposite the couch. Kakashi waved away the smoke, smiling.

"Saa...am I late?"

Kouseki, Naruto, and Sasuke merely blinked at him. "You're...on time!" exclaimed Kouseki, amazed.

Kakashi blinked too. "Oh, too bad then. I'll make sure to be late next time."

Kouseki grinned at the tick marks that appeared on the boys' heads. She turned towards the silent Akina, who was waiting patiently. "Alright alright, cut it out you goofs. We need to give Akina-chan some late birthday presents, ne?"

Naruto straightened up, his face softening into a happy smile. "Yeah, we're sorry about not giving these to you on time, but..."

"I understand, Naruto," said Akina, cutting off his awkward apology.

"Ahahaha, yeah." He stood up, walking over to the girl and taking out a package from behind his back. "This is from me and Kouseki!" Akina opened it up, putting her hand into the small box and feeling the large roll of silk ribbon, along with two encrusted senbon to pin her hair up with and a hair comb. "The ribbons are black! You like keeping your hair long, so we figured that we'd help make it easier to handle!" He picked up another package from one of his armrests, giving it to her. She opened it and took out a knee-length trench coat with a large hood. "Dark blue, and good for hiding stuff! There's lots of hidden pockets and everything!"

Akina dipped her head downwards. "Arigatou Naruto, Kouseki."

"My turn!" Called out their sensei in a cheerful voice. He reached back into his ninja pouch, fishing around for a moment. "Ah, here we go!" He took out a small scroll, crouching down to the ground. He unrolled it, revealing a complicated looking seal. Kakashi drew blood on his thumb and activated the seal, summoning a large wolf that took up half of the space in the room. On a chain collar around his neck was a big scroll.

"Oi! Hige-ojisan!" Kouseki transformed into her human form, to give everyone more space—the wolf, Hige, had to be careful about how he positioned his body, as to not break anything.

A welcoming growl was issued from the summoned wolf's throat. "Kouseki. Not getting into too much trouble, are we?"

Kouseki let out a laugh. "Ahahaha! You know me, Hige-ojisan! I never like to make trouble!"

Everyone but Akina let out sounds of disbelief. Kouseki sent a death glare at them.

Hige tilted his head as best he could to look at Akina. "Yare yare...you've grown, Akina-chan. But this isn't really the time to be reminiscing. I still have a job to do, isn't that right, Hatake Kakashi-san?"

Kakashi smiled. "Hai. Akina? How would you like to be able to summon your family? The Inuzuka Clan currently possess the summoning scroll, so I had to pull a couple strings to get Tsume to agree, but I still got it! Kouseki, this means you too."

The scroll hanging from Hige's neck snapped open, unraveling itself over the floor. Both Akina and Kouseki crouched down to sign their names. After doing so, the scroll rolled itself back up.

Hige growled in satisfaction. "Good. I expect to visit you two in the future, understand? The seals are boar, dog, monkey, bird, ram. Sacrifice blood on your signing hand, then summon."

"Hai!" replied the two female demons. With a nod, Hige returned to Makai.

Akina stood and bowed towards Kakashi, her hands cupped outwards in gratitude. "Arigatou, sensei."

Kakashi scratched the back of his neck, smiling. "Ah."

Sasuke reached onto the floor next to the couch without prompting, picking up a rectangular wooden box. He handed it to the girl silently, watching her reaction. Akina felt the highly polished wood, relishing in its feel for a moment before opening the box. She felt the surprise from her other team mates. Curious, she felt through the insides, feeling the sheathed blade cradled in the smooth silk.

"Draw it," Sasuke ordered.

Akina obliged, picking up the tanto and running her fingers along the scabbard. There was a snake-like dragon engraved into the wood, encircling the Uchiha crest. When she drew the blade, without a sound, Akina carefully ghosted her fingers along the blade and hilt. The hilt was rectangular, but it was shaped like a window pane with no glass. Along the blade, a stream of fire was carved into both sides.

It was truly a fine masterpiece.

The young dragon sheathed the tanto, setting it back into its box. She closed it with a dull click. She bowed her head to the boy sitting next to her. "Arigatou, Sasuke."

He grunted in reply, looking away.

The door bell rang, causing a frown to appear on Kouseki's face. "I'll get it." She got up in wolf form and walked towards the front door. "Geeze, people these days. Who the hell visits at 11:00 pm?" She opened it roughly, about to give this person a piece of her mind, but she stopped mid-growl.

Naruto peeked out of the living room. "Kouseki-chan?" Kouseki was looking down at the ground in front of the door. Naruto came out to pick up what she was staring at. It was a small pot with a little shrub growing out of it. A single white flower was blooming.

Kouseki closed the door with her snout as Naruto brought the simple pot inside, setting it down on the coffee table in front of Akina—but not before pulling off a note that he felt taped to the underside.

" _'Happy Belated Birthday, Akina-chan.'_ " Naruto flipped the paper over a few times. "Hmm. S'not signed."

Akina leaned forward to identify the plant, like she did for the fox kit and wolf pup's presents. She cupped her hands around the flower, and what she felt made her frown. Her hands dropped back onto her lap, and she opened her sightless jade green eyes.

Naruto gasped at this, dropping the paper. Sasuke stiffened and just stared at her face. Her eyes were directed at the flower as if she could see, but just a glance told you that she couldn't. And her eyes...such a beautiful color—but they were so dull.

"Akina-chan...?" Kouseki started, wary of the reason why her cousin had opened her eyes. "Why am I getting the feeling that something bad just happened...?"

"Kouseki...Do you know what the name of this plant is?" Her voice was more quiet than usual, if that was possible.

"No..." The older youkai answered. "Whenever you went to those flower arranging lessons at the Academy, I always went off to take a nap or hang with Kiba and them."

"It's a shrubby cinquefoil. It grows high in the mountains in late spring."

Kouseki shrugged, shifting into human form to sit on the armrest to Akina's left. "So?"

"Do you know what cinquefoil symbolize?" Akina's gaze never wavered from the potted plant.

"No..." she repeated, the hairs on the back of her neck rising. "What do they symbolize?"

The frowned deepened for a moment, before all traces of emotion were wiped from her face. Now that her eyes had been revealed, and were now open, somehow that expressionless face seemed that much more foreboding. Kakashi leaned forward, eyes serious.

"They symbolize maternal affection and a beloved daughter."

Kouseki stared for a moment, shocked, before she snarled and let loose a long string of curses in the demon tongue. The humans in the room instinctively shrank back a little at the acidic sounding language that she was using. They could practically _feel_ the foulness of her words, and they were a bit thankful that they could _not_ understand what she was saying. They'd probably need to have their ears cleaned out. Thoroughly.

"Wait...what? What does that mean?" Naruto. Apparently the shock at seeing Akina's eyes open had slowed down his mental processes.

Sasuke directed a Uchiha Death Glare at a wall. "Idiot. Don't you remember what Akina told us about her past? Only one demon would send something like this."

"What...?" Kouseki's cursing was still going—it didn't even sound like she was using the same wolf dialect anymore.

Slowly, Akina lifted her unseeing eyes from the flower, and settled them on where she knew Naruto's face was. The jinchuuriki could not suppress the chills that ran down his spine. That dull, lifeless gaze...

"Naruto..." Her voice was barely above a whisper now. "This plant is a present from my otou-san. He knows where I am. The murderer of my mother's side of my family knows where I am."

* * *

Right then, I hope you liked this chapter! I'm going to put a link of a doodle of Akina's Jubaku lynx mask in my profile, so be sure to check that out! I also got bored one day and sketched out Akina in her Ryuuki outfit, though the mask is different. Make sure to keep on checking up on my profile! Now if I can just get my digital camera or scanner to work...

Ehh, I am probably never going to make a chapter this long again. The only reason I didn't cut it in half was because there was really no point at which I could, without making it look like I, well, cut it in half. Heh.

Please review and tell me if I handled the secret telling well enough! That's the only part I'm not 100 percent sure about...


	17. They're only Human after all

Alright, so it's waaay after Spring Break, and I haven't been typing like I promised. BUT! Summer Vacation is here! HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY! The only thing I have a problem with is coming up with names for some OC in the future. If you're really bored you can go ahead and review with: Family Name, Personal Name. Meaning of the Family Name, Meaning of the Personal Name.

Ehh, I should start outlining the chapters in the future. That's what I did with Chapter 15, and it worked out fine, if a little long...

I'd like to thank zurako, sasuoc4ever, Ritsa-chan, kerricarri, and Stickman-sam for reviewing!

"Talking"

_Thinking_

"_Telepathy through mind seal/jutsu"_

("Animals talking" / _"Telepathy from animals through mind seal/jutsu"_ )

"**Demon Language" / 'Demon talking telepathically with their host'**

_'Miscellaneous things such as signs, ANBU sign language, letters...'_

* * *

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

**:;Seeing the Truth;:**

**Chapter 17: They're only Human after all**

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Akina snapped out of her meditative trance, flinging herself out of her mindscape. Her entire body was aching and throbbing, despite the fact that she hadn't done anything physically straining that day. She rubbed at a particularly stiff muscle underneath one of her ANBU wrist plates.

The roar of the waterfall that she was sitting on top of returned to her ears, and she noted that she had successfully managed to avoid being dragged over the cliff with the water—which she had been using as a makeshift seat cushion.

The young demon in disguise unfolded her legs and stretched out her body, which had begun to cramp from being stuck in the same position for too many hours. With a silent sigh, Akina lay back on the surface of the water, letting herself be pulled over the falls of the river. Her body arched gracefully as she fell, and she hit the water below with a splash.

The cold water soothed her aching muscles. Inside her mind, both Ryuu and Okami made sounds of content.

("Hehehe!")

The giggles echoed and surrounded the small youkai. Inwardly frowning, Akina tried to locate the source, but found that she was unable to. It was like she was being denied access to the water. And her demonic personalities were being suspiciously quiet...

Eventually the laughter subsided and turned into a soothing hum. As Akina settled down cross-legged at th lake-bottom and relaxed a bit, the humming seemed to get louder—closer. Several beings brushed against the edge of her now limited circle of perception, getting closer and closer. But Akina wasn't wary because somehow, she knew that they didn't mean any harm. That didn't mean that she liked not knowing what was happening, though.

_Ryuu. You know who they are_, she stated. Her dragon self didn't reply, which meant that yes, she did know. But she wouldn't tell.

This time Akina frowned outwardly, then narrowly dodged what felt like a spear made of ice. She contorted her body flexibly into a strange S-shape in order to dodge a sudden rush of long-ranged attacks. Using one of the embedded ice spears as leverage, she swung herself around to avoid being hit by a gigantic ice _hammer_, of all things. It hit the lake-bottom with a deeply resounding boom.

And she still couldn't take control of the water! As she used chakra to enhance her slowed underwater movement to dodge the hammer, Akina wondered who would attack her in the Hokage's private training area with the ice element. She wrenched out another ice spear and held it in her mouth, attaching herself to the rounded part of the hammer after it next slammed down. It carried her up as it tried to shake her off, but Akina held on tightly.

Kouseki had admitted to being more oriented towards earth and wind, so it wasn't her.

Akina spiked her chakra into the hammer, trying to crack it or break the control of whoever made the hammer. It didn't work. She ignored the pressure being exerted on her body from the speed at which the hammer was moving in its attempts to get her off. A tilt of her head blocked another ice spear torpedo with the one she was carrying in her mouth.

Having had enough, she used chakra to keep herself onto the ice hammer, snapping out one of her arms to catch the next ice spear. She took the one she already had in her mouth with her other hand. Armed with two ice spears, she strengthened them with her chakra and pierced the ice hammer as hard as she could.

When the mammoth of a frozen weapon started to shatter, Akina was distantly satisfied to note that she got to prove one of her ANBU sayings first-hand. The best solution for a complicated problem almost always uses an element of the problem as part of the solution.

The barrage of ice spears stopped, and once the hammer had completely collapsed, Akina deemed it safe enough to attempt to swim back up to the surface of the lake. A few seconds after starting her trek upwards, she was gently pushed towards the surface from underneath, by the _water_. Only after she broke the surface did she regain control over the water again, but there was no one around her.

_Ryuu_, she thought again, not even bothering to ask properly. It was fairly obvious what her question would be.

**'I'm not telling you Akina. Or rather...I can't,'** replied the dragon manifestation, who seemed amused at the whole situation.

**'Onee-chan shouldn't worry,'** popped in Okami. **'Onee-chan isn't hurt, hai?'**

_Iie, Okami-chan._ Akina walked across the water, drying herself out using wind and fire as she went. She ran her thumbs over the shafts of the ice spears that she was still holding, still sensing no ill intent, despite the attack. _Interesting..._

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

One week after Akina's birthday, Naruto could be found sighing happily at the kitchen table, slurping up chicken flavored instant ramen. With the trust issues surrounding the team, Kakashi had insisted on going out to eat for at least one meal a day to spend 'quality time' together, but Naruto knew that the lazy jounin just wanted to mooch off of his students.

And so, due to Sasuke's adamant protests against going to Ichiraku Ramen every time Team Seven went out, Naruto found himself on ramen withdrawal. The only reason he hadn't satisfied his craving sooner was because Sasuke always seemed to be around to comment, and there was only so much sarcastic quips one could take.

_Agh, it's a good thing Sasuke-teme has a mission right now. I thought I was gonna die!_ He grinned with delight. _Yay! Ramen, I've been reunited with you at last!_

SLAM!

("OI! Naruto-baka!")

The jinchuuriki made a loud sound at the back of his throat, not wanting to waste his precious food stuffs by spitting it out while replying. Kouseki, in her grizzly-sized wolf form, quickly found him still stuffing his face. He blinked questionably at the scroll that she was gripping in between her fangs. Kouseki ignored it in favor of grumbling under her breath in her native demonic tongue.

After a quick look around to see if the house was secure, Kouseki dropped the scroll on the table and morphed back into her human form, taking a seat in a disgruntled manner.

"Whazzamm?"

The youkai seemed to have no problem understanding his food-in-mouth language, because she answered immediately. "Saru-geezer and the Soother's grandkid are making me do missions for them..." She cursed briefly before huffing and glaring at the scroll she had been carrying.

Naruto quickly swallowed his current mouthful. "Why? You aren't even one of our ninja!"

"Yeah, well you tell _them_ that. Apparently these missions are punishment for keeping me and Akina-chan's heritage a secret, since I've known about everything for longer and _don't_ have selective amnesia..." She frowned now, as if reminded of something. Her head tilted to the side, and Naruto got the feeling that if the female had been in her true form, her ears would be rotating. "Hey, is Akina-chan out training _again_?"

The younger teen nodded, finishing up his very late lunch (it being around 4 pm). "Yup! She's usually training if you can't find her and she's not out on a mission these days...ANBU operatives are really pushed hard, neh?"

"Well yeah, I guess...but even if the expectations are higher it's not really like Akina-chan to give this much effort..."

Naruto leaned back on two chair legs, balancing himself with a foot on the table. "No, 'spose not. There has to be another reason why, then, right? Do you know why?"

Kouseki snorted, not even thinking of scolding the boy for putting his shoes on the table that they ate on. "Of course not, or else I wouldn't bother asking you!" She watched Naruto toss her scroll up and down. "But...I do know one person who should know!"

Blinking, Naruto caught the scroll and slammed all four chair legs back on the ground, swinging his legs back onto the linoleum. "Who?"

The wolf demon grinned. "Akina-chan!"

She relished in poking at her cousin's mind, happy about the fact that she had altered Team Seven's mind connection seals to include hers. Apparently it was a demon seal, created long ago for demons to be able to directly influence their human slaves' minds. Kouseki, of course, told them this just to see the boys' reactions. Then she told them that with her mind now included, the connection had another stabilization point, and another 'communications blackout' won't happen again like when Akina was in a coma as long as Kouseki was conscious.

"_...Kouseki?"_ She sounded...distracted, which was extremely unusual. Was the threat of her father still on her mind?

"_Akina-chan! Naruto and me wanna know why you're training so hard!"_

Naruto decided to join in, also curious. _"Yeah! You don't usually try so hard on stuff, ANBU or not!"_

There was silence for a few moments. _"...So you two noticed?"_

"_...They aren't the only ones...,"_ Sasuke, though it sounded very faint. Apparently even when away from the village, the Uchiha wanted to know what his teammates were doing. Trust issues, trust issues...

"_Itoko-chan, you should try to learn more about social behavior. It wasn't really hard for us to notice this 'cuz we know you well, but what if an enemy noticed something important? And besides, you'll eventually have to become the Head of your dragon clan and deal with our demon politics...Remember, early hunter gets the innards!"_

"_ANYWAYS,"_ thought Naruto, steering the conversation away from Kouseki's odd 'lecture mode', _"You mind telling us why you're training so hard? Is someone after Shishou no Ryuuki or Jubaku or something? Are the villagers bothering you? Or is it—"_

"_Both of you, shut up!"_ Sasuke intervened to put a stop to Naruto's fussy worrisomeness. _"So?"_ He thought, directing it towards the girl, who had gone quiet during Kouseki and Naruto's monologues.

After a few seconds of quiet, Kouseki and the boys felt two other presences in their minds, coming from Akina's. With a jerk, Naruto suddenly remembered feeling them before on Akina's birthday, but later forgetting. The silence from Sasuke meant that he felt the same way.

**'Naru-nii! 'Suke-nii! Kouko-nee!' **

Naruto blinked at the childishly high-pitched greeting, looking over at Kouseki. "Was that Akina-chan's wolf voice?"

There was a rough sigh in their minds. **'I must apologize for my other half's behavior. We've been telling her that you two don't know who we are, but it seems that she's denying the truth...again.'** This husky, growling voice was unknown to them, and it alarmed all but Kouseki.

"_Who the hell are you?!"_ demanded Naruto.

There was a hurt whimper, and it felt like the younger voice retreated somewhat back into Akina's mind.

"_They call themselves Ryuu and Okami...,"_ murmured Akina. The sound of her voice seemed to calm the wolf child, as she stopped backing away from the boys.

"_You're half wolf and half dragon. So they're like the fox with Naruto, but they're really you?" _

**'Very close, Sasuke-san. That was some very sharp thinking,' **thought the gruff voice.** 'Like I told Akina-chan not too long ago, we are the mental manifestations of her two demon bloods. I am Ryuu, and the young one is Okami.'**

Okami seemed to perk up at the mention of her name. **'Konnichiwa!'**

**'Very good, Okami-chan,'** praised the dragon self, for the show of politeness.

"_...Is this normal?"_ Naruto's inner voice was gentler this time, as to not upset the pup again.

"_For Forbidden Children—yes, this is normal. Doesn't mean it's safe, though...I mean, three minds in one body? S'not healthy,"_ thought Kouseki, finally joining in.

"_...I've been trying to fix this...,"_ started Akina. **'...But she can't—not without getting Shinigami-sama and Seiryuu-sama to give us back our memories...,'** finished Ryuu.

**'Stronger!'** yelped out Okami, wanting to help.

**'Hai, Okami-chan, arigatou. We need to get stronger to get our memories back.'** Ryuu pulled out the scroll containing the most recent message from the Shinigami from the Cave of Knowledge, forwarding it to the others to see. The bold, glowing red characters seemed to sneer at them as they read quietly.

"_...Why didn't you tell us this before?"_ Sasuke directed this at Kouseki and Akina. _Another secret?!_

"_...I wanted to understand my situation first..."_

**'Bad 'Suke-nii!'** admonished the wolfling. **'Be nice to Onee-chan!'**

Naruto snickered, both in and out of the mind seal. Kouseki cracked an amused grin as well. Sasuke himself seemed bewildered at being reprimanded by what sounded like a four-year-old. That was fortunate. If he had not been so caught off-guard, he most definitely would have reacted negatively and would have probably made the pup cry.

"_Gomen nasai, Sasuke, Naru—"_ Akina fell silent mid-sentence, and her calming presence in the back of their minds seemed to retreat back into her own mind. The colder and more distant demon manifestation, obviously Ryuu, followed.

Kouseki, Naruto, and Sasuke recognized what was happening and fell silent. She was dealing with something in the 'real world'.

**'Ryuu-nee?'** Okami seemed to be hovering in the middle of the connection and Akina's mind, equally curious about whatever Akina was doing and the rest of Team Seven.

Ryuu _hmm_ed softly, her attention still directed elsewhere.

**'Why does that lady want to get smashed with Onee-chan? Won't that hurt?'**

Kouseki let loose a bout of mental laughter, predictably understanding the double entendre right away. Outwardly she was biting her lip to keep from making too much noise. Okami was confused as to why Kouseki was so amused. _She_ didn't think there was anything funny about her question.

Ryuu didn't answer immediately, since she was concealing a grimace. By now both boys, knowing now why Kouseki was laughing, were eagerly awaiting her reply. But then the implications of that question hit them.

"_Nani?! Who's the lady you're...she's...you guys..._whatever_, talking to? We're only 13!"_

"_...Technically we're considered adults..."_ commented Sasuke. He too, seemed to be fading away. He was on a mission, after all. Then, he blocked his mind off from the others.

"_Hey wait Sas—damn!"_

**'Damn?'** repeated Okami. **'Damn. Damn, damn, damn!'** She started chanting, liking the new word.

There was a brief spike of annoyance from Ryuu. Kouseki did the opposite by giving Naruto a mental high-five.

**'Look at what you've done!'** hissed Ryuu.

"_Er...sorry?"_

**'Damn, damn, damn, damn!'** cheered Okami.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"_...Kouseki?"_

Akina stopped mid-jab to respond to her older cousin's mind pokes. Her arm, holding one of the mysterious ice spears, fell to her side.

"_Akina-chan! Me and Naruto wanna know why you're training so hard!"_

"_Yeah! You don't usually try so hard on stuff, ANBU or not!"_ Naruto.

**'You do have to admit that your behavior **_**is**_** kind of unusual,'** quipped Ryuu.

"_...So you two noticed?"_ thought Akina. She started walking around the Hokage's Training Area, cleaning up after herself. The ice spears were stored inside of the wolf-shaped seal on her left wrist.

"_...They aren't the only ones...,"_ came Sasuke's distant voice.

"_Itoko-chan, you should try to learn more about social behavior. It wasn't really hard for us to notice this 'cuz we know you well, but what if an enemy noticed something important? And besides, you'll eventually have to become the Head of your dragon clan and deal with our demon politics...Remember, early hunter gets the innards!"_

Okami seemed to jerk slightly at the age-old wolf saying. 'Early hunter gets the innards.' Ryuu lifted up her head from her crossed forearms to observe the pup, both manifestations in front of the newly dubbed Cave of Knowledge. Akina herself, however, seemed more affected by Kouseki's comment about her enemies detecting changes in her psyche. The scent of the cinquefoil abruptly made itself known in her mind, so much so that it was almost as if there was a bush of it right in front of her. Akina quickly shook her head, warding away the phantom scent.

"_ANYWAYS,"_ continued Naruto. Akina focused on her team's talking, to distract herself from her more morbid thoughts. _"You mind telling us why you're training so hard? Is someone after Shishou no Ryuuki or Jubaku or something? Are the villagers bothering you? Or is it—"_

"_Both of you, shut up!"_ Sasuke snapped. Ryuu snorted softly, amused at the typical Team Seven interaction. _"So?"_

Ryuu narrowed her ice-blue eyes at Okami inside the mindscape, analyzing the small wolf demon. Okami seemed to sense the seriousness of the situation, because she straightened up and stayed silent.

Akina played with the kunai in her hands, the last of the weapons that she needed to pick up. Was Okami ready to meet the others? Was it too early? She and Ryuu had been working on Okami every chance they got, and it showed in her improved speech and thought patterns. Okami no longer spoke like a dependent two-year-old, but a growing four-year-old. It was...a step up, at least.

**'Akina. We'll have to do this eventually. Better sooner than later,'** advised Ryuu.

**'Pack brothers and sisters stick together no matter what!'** added Okami.

With a silent sigh, Akina lowered the part of the barrier between all of their mindscapes that filtered out Ryuu and Okami. Immediately, Okami seemed to jump through, elated at finally getting to talk with someone other than Akina and Ryuu. Ryuu leaped after the pup, but she was too late.

**'Naru-nii! 'Suke-nii! Kouko-nee!'**

Ryuu sighed. _So much for a gentle, gradual introduction..._ **'I must apologize for my other half's behavior. We've been telling her that you two don't know who we are, but it seems that she's denying the truth...again.'**

"_Who the hell are you?!"_

Okami whimpered and backed away towards Akina and Ryuu.

**'Ah, Naruto...,'** said Ryuu to Akina privately. **'You really have a way with children...'**

"_They call themselves Ryuu and Okami...,"_ murmured Akina, ignoring Ryuu's comment. Okami was mollified by the sound of the Core's voice and stopped retreating.

"_You're half wolf and half dragon. So they're like the fox with Naruto, but they're really you?"_

Akina put away the kunai knife and formed a hand-seal. _Shunshin no jutsu._ She reappeared inside the Entrance Hall of ANBU HQ, bowing a head towards the secretary in greeting. He raised a hand briefly, submerged in forms and mission scrolls.

As Akina seemed to be busy, Ryuu answered the question, even though it was directed towards the Core Soul.** 'Very close, Sasuke-san. That was some very sharp thinking,'** thought Ryuu. **'Like I told Akina-chan not too long ago, we are the mental manifestations of her two demon bloods. I am Ryuu, and the young one is Okami.'**

Okami's mood bounced back at the mention of her name. **'Konnichiwa!'**

**'Very good, Okami-chan,'** praised Ryuu.

As she walked towards the locker room designated towards the females of the ANBU forces, she kept her body relaxed and just confident enough as to not seem arrogant. The other ANBU operatives walked past with only brief, non-verbal greetings.

"_...Is this normal?"_ thought Naruto, softly.

"_For Forbidden Children—yes, this is normal. Doesn't mean it's safe, though...I mean, three minds in one body? S'not healthy."_ Okami wagged her tail, happy about hearing the voice of her, Akina's, long-time guardian.

Akina arrived in the locker room, quickly locating her personal locker and taking off the bone-white armor, not yet faded gray from battle. She took off her mask and wiped the sweat from her forehead, keeping her eyes closed as always.

"_...I've been trying to fix this...,"_ started Akina. **'...But she can't—not without getting Shinigami-sama and Seiryuu-sama to give us back our memories...,'** finished Ryuu.

**'Stronger!'** yelped out Okami, wanting to help.

**'Hai, Okami-chan, arigatou. We need to get stronger to get our memories back.'** Akina felt Ryuu enter the Cave of Knowledge, but she didn't pay much attention after that. Something...didn't feel quite right anymore. She sat down on the bench in front of her locker, acutely aware that the hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end. Someone was...looking for her.

There was no one else in the locker room at the moment...good.

"_...Why didn't you tell us this before?"_

_He sounds annoyed,_ Akina thought to herself vaguely. _"...I wanted to understand my situation first..."_

**'Bad 'Suke-nii! Be nice to Onee-chan!'** scolded Okami. Naruto snickered.

Akina sealed away her ninjatou. Whoever that was looking for her...didn't feel like a threat, so she wouldn't need her ANBU blade. She didn't feel like she was being hunted down like prey...at least, not in the usual way.

"_Gomen nasai, Sasuke, Naru—"_

"OCHIBI-CHAN!" Akina braced herself for impact just before being tackled to the ground by a distinctly female body. Both landed with a thud on the cold floor.

"...Anko-sempai...," Akina greeted softly, disregarding the fact that she was being crushed underneath the very person she was greeting.

Anko leaned back and sat on the girl's legs, crossing her arms and pouting at her. "Why do you have to be a fuckin' Stealth Master!? I can never catch you off guard!"

_Which is the point of being a Stealth Master...,_ thought Akina, the combined sarcastic influences of Ryuu, Sasuke, and Kouseki showing itself into a growing sense of dry humor.

When Akina didn't seem to respond Anko let out a low sigh, releasing her annoyance, before grinning and hopping off of her make-shift seat, AKA Akina. "Well, get up you lazy-ass! Taichou says ya need to get initiated into ANBU properly!"

The former Chuunin Exam proctor took several steps back to survey Akina's appearance as the teen lifted herself off of the ground. "Hmm...no bone armor, just the black, form-fitting undershirt and arm warmers, boring black ninja pants, and combat boots...," muttered Anko. She sifted through Akina's locker, seeing almost the same exact clothes as her ANBU outfit and the dark blue trench-coat she got for her birthday. "Che! You really need to go shopping...the only thing I approve of in here is your trench-coat...it doesn't smell like blood yet, so it must be new, neh?"

If she had one, Ryuu would have lifted an eyebrow at Anko's rather intrusive personality. Akina, however, was wondering where this was going. She nodded her head. "I got it for my birthday recently..."

"AHA! Your birthday, huh? YES!" Akina got the feeling that this little tidbit was just what the woman was waiting for, seeing as she could _feel_ her shit-eating grin. "What a perfect excuse to get smashed! Of course, we can't forget the birthday girl, neh?" Anko wrapped an arm around Akina's shoulders, slamming her locker shut. "Let's get smashed _together_! We'll share the bill!"

This time Ryuu let out a small burst of hot air from her mouth, amused. Okami flattened herself on the ground to dodge it, having sat herself in front of the dragon beforehand and now regretting it.

"...Initiation?" Akina was ignoring the drinking bit for now, wanting to get the official stuff out of the way before dealing with everything else, and hopefully by then Anko will forget about her suggestion. If there was anything Akina _shouldn't_ do, it was drink alcohol. She was trying to _maintain_ her sanity and control, not lose it, thanks.

**'Ryuu-nee?'**

"Yeah, initiation! You get your tattoo downstairs and then go to the bar on the bottom level of ANBU HQ for a drink with your new team!" Anko's grip on Akina's shoulders got tighter. She leaned down until her mouth was right next to her kouhai's ear. "You're not trying to break tradition by weaseling your way out of this, are you?" she hissed menacingly.

**'...Hmm?' **

**'Why does that lady want to get smashed with Onee-chan? Won't that hurt?'** Kouseki's loud laughter echoed even in _her_ mind. Ryuu grimaced to herself.

Akina kept her body relaxed, and only responded by letting out a silent sigh, an action that was fast becoming a habit for her. _There's no escape..._

Anko punched the air in victory. "YES!" She spun Akina around and marched her towards the tattoo room. In the hallways, since the two were maskless, their fellow ANBU could see the soiled-pants-inducing grin on Anko's face and the way that Akina's brows were scrunched together slightly. The young youkai could feel the brief flashes of laughter in their spirit auras. No pity (all of them were too battle-hardened for that), just some understanding sympathy.

"You better not cry like a wuss..." Anko sat the rookie ANBU down in the reclining patient's chair and went outside of the room again to snatch the nearest medic-nin. Bewildered, the man was pushed into the tattoo room. "You! ANBU insignia, NOW!"

"Alright, alright! Geez...don't get your panties into a bunch..." He plugged in the equipment after giving a harried nod towards Akina, when a thought occurred to him. "Wait...do you even wear panties?"

"Do you want to find out, big boy?" she purred in return. The medic-nin just laughed, albeit nervously, but laughed nonetheless.

He turned on the needle. "Alright then, kouhai-san, hold still for me now..."

"_Nani?! Who's the lady you're...she's...you guys..._whatever_, talking to? We're only 13!"_

"_...Technically we're considered adults..."_ Sasuke blocked off his mind, just as the needle made contact with Akina's skin. She had to make a conscious effort to hold back her natural regenerative and defensive processes.

"_Hey wait Sas—damn!"_

**'Damn?'** repeated Okami. **'Damn. Damn, damn, damn!'** She started chanting, liking the new word.

Faintly, Akina sensed Ryuu baring her fangs and snapping her jaws once, irritated. Then, she felt Kouseki give Naruto a mental high-five. _Typical Kouseki..._

**'Look at what you've done!'** hissed Ryuu.

"_Er...sorry?"_

**'Damn, damn, damn, damn!'** cheered Okami.

The medic-nin finished off the tattoo with the bottom curve. The gentle buzzing was stopped. "Alright then, all done kouhai-san!" He stepped away to put away the equipment. "If it gives you any pain just add pressure or—hey!" Anko had already dragged Akina out of the room.

Along the way, Orochimaru's former apprentice had managed to snatch Genma coming out of another room. Yuugao, spotting the rest of her team in the clutches of the trouble-making lady, followed along to make sure not too much destruction ensued.

Anko threw open the re-re-re-enforced steel door at the bottom-most level, and Akina was hit with the scent of alcohol...lots of alcohol. The room was rather large, and almost completely filled up, despite the fact that night had not fallen yet.

"OI! Four over here!"

"Coming right up!"

Mitarashi Anko sat the rest of her team down in a corner table, looking insufferably pleased with herself. Akina sensed that she'd need all of her attention here, so she cut her mind off from the others. Genma spotted Akina's new blue ANBU tattoo, the blood vessels underneath the color already swelling.

"Ah, so you finally got your tattoo? Good, good...Now we can start doing missions instead of just training..." He nodded in thanks to the off-duty ANBU that served them their sake. He popped open the first bottle and filled up Akina's saucer first, then the others.

Akina picked up the saucer gingerly, swirling the liquid around and letting the scent waft into her nose.

Their vice-captain scrutinized Akina closely. "Akina...this is your first time drinking, correct?"

'Jubaku' tipped her head down in a nod.

"Wuzzat?" A nearby ANBU chuunin tilted his chair back to look at Akina, who by now had wiped her countenance clear of emotions. "A virgin drinker, eh?"

"You got it!" Anko put a friendly arm around Akina's shoulders, nearly causing some of the sake to tip out of Akina's saucer. "This girl's new to the forces."

"Ahh, initiation...," commented an ANBU jounin from another table. He nodded in a wise manner. "You know, not even the infamous Uchiha Itachi got out of the traditional first drink, so don't even try!"

Ryuu chuckled. **'I suppose that's the problem with being in a room filled with ANBU, drunk or not. You can't keep a conversation private.'**

By now, several other tables were casting their attention towards their own table, either sizing up the new rookie or genuinely wanting Akina to drink the sake.

With a silent sigh, Akina lifted up the saucer to her lips and tilted it, letting the alcoholic beverage run down her throat slowly. Akina found that it burned in a pleasant manner, but she could practically _feel_ the possible effects of the alcohol.

"YES! Another one corrupted!" Anko whacked Akina on the back several times, causing her to cough out a beach-ball sized fireball.

The room roared with delighted laughter, Anko being the loudest.

Genma whistled, eyebrows raised. "Whoa, where'd _that_ come from?"

"The sake probably hadn't gone all the way down before _someone_ decided to make it come back _up_." Yuugao cast a stern look towards Anko, but it was ineffective. The other woman was already starting on her first bottle. "Although the fireball _was_ a surprise..."

Akina rubbed her throat, exhaling a small puff of sake-scented smoke. _Ryuu..._

**'Yeah, I know. We have to keep an eye on that reaction. At least the alcohol didn't get to stay inside of your system for long, right?'**

_Hai..._

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Akina ran her fingers over the porcelain dragon mask that she was wearing, noting with a small amount of amusement the amount of titles and nicknames that she had accumulated in the last six months alone. At this rate, she'd lose track of which alias was which. She let her hand drop, darting through the treetops of the forests outside of Konoha.

That amusement quickly dissipated once her most recent problem popped back up. Her control over the elements was slipping. And it had started immediately after that scuffle with the sentient ice weapons. She'd already lost all control over the earth, as well as over half of her power over the water.

**'We can't tell you anything, Akina,'** said Ryuu, before Akina could even think to ask her again. **'I already told you that we are physically and mentally unable to tell you what you need to know about this. All you need to know is that this is natural. Just follow your instincts.'**

Which was why Akina was heading northwards, in the direction of the Valley of the End. Something was pulling her, like a moth towards a flame. It was...a strange sensation—almost stranger than the fact that some playful and mischievous spirit seemed to have taken over one of her Eastern-style wind dragons, picked up a cloud of mist, and coiled itself tightly around her body. Almost.

How was that even possible?!

_At least I am still able to use the earth and water passively._ Meaning, she could still use them to 'see', just not to attack.

As she headed towards her unknown destination, Akina had an odd sense of deja vu. The area seemed familiar. When the familiar scent of old sex, fear, pain, and hatred flooded her senses, she jerked to a stop on top of a tree branch. The possessed wind dragon made it so that Akina hovered a foot above where her feet should be. This distracted her momentarily from her new find.

"What are you doing?" she murmured.

She stopped talking immediately, realizing that the lively spirit was also altering her voice so that it echoed everywhere eerily. The menacing whispering weaved throughout the trees, and with a light-hearted mental shove the spirit brought her attention a few miles ahead, where a large shinobi and a small girl were looking in their direction with some apprehension.

_They heard me,_ she realized with a slight frown. Now that she had their location in mind, she recognized where she was. She was four miles away from the Blaze base of the Setting Sun organization, the most recent base that she had destroyed.

Having gotten over his moment of confused alarm, the large shinobi up ahead tightened his grip on the small girl, eliciting a flinch of pain. A kunai knife was brought to her neck, and the girl froze in fear.

"Shishou no Ryuuki?" he called out. They were standing in front of the snarling dragon statue that she had made. "I am Hozen Renketsu, the Leader of the Setting Sun, and I need to have a little chat with you regarding your most recent...accomplishments." _Or else this girl dies_ was left unsaid, but Akina got the message nonetheless.

**'This was bound to happen sooner or later anyways,'** sighed out Ryuu as Akina made her way towards the site of the old Blaze base. She turned towards the wolf pup and crooned softly, causing the smaller 'youkai' to fall asleep. She didn't need to experience this kind of darkness so soon. **'I mean, you **_**did**_** demolish half of his life's work in the span of 24 hours...'**

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

To the Setting Sun Leader and the young female, a small human-shape melted out of the darkness of the forest, obscured slightly by coils of mist and blurry air pockets. The blank expression of the dragon mask was clear however, the rest of the warrior's head blocked from view by mist. The captive girl couldn't hold in the yelp of surprise and fear at the scary image that the Shishou no Ryuuki presented.

Hozen Renketsu examined the so-called rogue ANBU that had saved Nami. _This is the infamous Shishou no Ryuuki? This little chit?_ Renketsu snorted internally in disbelief. He noted that Ryuuki, who looked little older than the girl that he had at knife-point, was floating a foot above the ground, various parts of her pale body blurred and slightly transparent. It...unnerved him.

"Who...what _are_ you?" He couldn't help it. He had to know. He had to know why the Shishou no Ryuuki, the Master of Dragon Spirits, looked like a spirit herself. Why couldn't he sense her presence? Or her aura? It was as if she wasn't there at all, but he could see her hovering in front of him with his own two eyes!

The dragon mask, seemingly hovering of it's own accord, tilted to the side in question. The girl shivered despite herself. Everyone knew that ANBU masks were made to be intimidating and disconcerting, and they certainly did their job. She could only wonder how the Ryuuki got her own ANBU mask when she could see no sign of allegiance to any ninja village.

"You ningen have given me the name 'Shishou no Ryuuki', Hozen-san," whispered the hazy figure. Again with the creepy echoing.

_She doesn't consider herself human?_ The Setting Sun Leader shook himself mentally out of his dazed funk. He reminded himself of why he had called for this meeting in the first place. With that remembrance came his passion. His drive. His spirit.

"The Shishou no Ryuuki...," he started slowly, as if tasting the name. "Over the last few months you've assassinated corrupt leaders, brought crime rings to a stop, saved _innocents_," he sneered out the last words, before continuing. "You've helped rebuild villages, rebuild lives, with those dragon spirits of yours. Your name is known by everyone...but why would you want to destroy my humble organization?" He grinned, spreading out the arm that he wasn't using to threaten the girl's life to the sky, in a grand, sweeping motion. "You see, you aren't the only one trying to spread goodness throughout our war-stricken countries! All I'm trying to do is teach everyone a vital life lesson!"

The girl grimaced as a chilly wind seemed to blow through the unnaturally made clearing. She noted wryly that it didn't seem to affect the Dragon Spirit Master at all. About halfway through the start of the man's monologue, Ryuuki's mask faced her directly. Her heart skipped a beat at the sudden attention. _Freaky._ But somehow...somehow, she knew that the Shishou no Ryuuki posed no threat to her person. _Still doesn't mean she doesn't scare the living shit out of me, though._

The shinobi's voice took on a more demented tone. He didn't seem to notice the byplay between the two others in his company.

"In this world, only the strong survive! If you can't defend yourself, you don't deserve to live! Tough shit! No one gives a damn! It's every man for himself! Always put yourself first before others! But me...me, _I_ give everyone a chance to prove themselves worthy of breathing! I like to think of myself as a teacher giving my stupid, ignorant little students a..._final_...exam." He laughed loud and long, causing the girl to scowl. Apparently this happened often in her presence. "There will _always_ be hate in this world. People will _always_ find someone else to blame for their troubles. You will _always_ find darkness in the hearts of the living. And when that darkness shows itself, even for the briefest moments of time, I open my arms in welcome to my new brother!" He spread out _both_ his arms to the sky this time.

The hostage girl slowly but surely edged herself away from the ranting shinobi, Ryuuki's mask now facing the man as to not draw attention to her escape.

"AND _TOGETHER_, MY NEW FAMILY AND I WILL COMB THROUGH EVERY TOWN, SOAKING IN THAT UNDYING HATRED, AND SPREADING IT TO OTHERS! _TOGETHER_, WE WILL KILL EACH AND EVERY PERSON OR _THING_ THAT DARES TO CHALLENEGE OUR HAPPINESS, OUR SCORN!" He howled with insane laughter. "ARE YOU SAD? WAS YOUR WHOLE FAMILY KILLED IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES?! NO PROBLEM! COME TO ME AND WE CAN PUT THE BLAME ON SOME SORRY IDIOT AND KILL HIM AND MAKE _HIM_ SUFFER LIKE YOU DID! THAT'LL MAKE YOU FEEL _ALL_ BETTER! BUAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

His voice volume suddenly dropped, and Hozen grinned at Ryuuki before jumping forward to grab the girl again. His kunai went back to her neck. "And now...now, I will show you exactly what happens to those that interfere in my quest for happiness..." The girl closed her eyes, resigned to her death.

Seconds later the _former_ hostage found herself flying forward due to a gust of wind. She tumbled head over heels into a bush, and got up just in time to glance back and witness the Shishou no Ryuuki landing a hit on Hozen Renketsu's jaw with a loud _crack_, her neck openly gushing an unhealthy amount of blood. The girl flinched. That was a killing blow meant for _her_—it had cut the Ryuuki's jugular tube clean in half, and yet she was still fighting and—was her flesh regenerating itself?!

She pushed away her moment of satisfaction at seeing justice being served before turning back to the forest and running as fast as her rather weak legs could take her. The echoing explosions and roaring flame dragons behind her only served to motivate her more. She started panting a couple minutes into her mad sprint, looking around her frantically.

_Damn!_ In her haste, she hadn't noticed that she was heading uphill, towards the mountain cliffs. But looking back down, she spotted the Setting Sun Leader gathering a large amount of chakra, only fifty-five yards away. Too close for comfort! _Well, there's no turning back now..._ In a moment of adolescent rebellion, climbed higher until she got to a cliff that overlooked the battlefield below. She peeked over the edge of the cliff and felt her eyes widen.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"Doton: Saiganki Yoroi (Earth Release: Rock Crusher Armor)!"

The earth rumbled and broke apart into cobblestone-like chunks, flinging through the air to connect with Hozen Renketsu. Before the slave girl's eyes, the Leader of the Setting Sun turned into a hideous looking rock golem, still laughing at the world.

There was an odd shift in the air, but no one really paid much attention to it. The girl just assumed that it was the Ryuuki showing some annoyance.

Hozen spun around, turning himself into a brown tornado. Hundreds upon hundreds of rocks shot out in a long rapid-fire sequence. A strong gust picked up, suspending all of the make-shift projectiles in mid-air. A second later, they reversed back on Hozen, surrounding him in another tornado going the opposite way. The girl saw a red spark appear before the tornado was set on fire, growing bigger and bigger.

She covered her face from the heat. She could feel it from up here!

The fire tornado exploded abruptly, bits of molten rock falling from the sky. A spot in front of the epicenter of the explosion distorted, and the girl watched with a sense of fascination as the ghostly figure of the Shishou no Ryuuki plunged a flaming fist into the golem's chest.

Hozen Renketsu let out a strangled howl, before suddenly grabbing onto what looked like the Ryuuki's other arm. "PSYCHE!" And squeezed.

There was sickening crunch, before Ryuuki tilted her head and exploded into a plume of white fire. The rock protecting Hozen's right arm was stripped off, leaving a charred human arm. The hole where Ryuuki had punched through the armor was still smoking.

Panting heavily, the golem raked his eyes over the scorched battlefield. "Heh, hahahaha, GHAHAAH! PATHETIC! The Shishou no Ryuuki, HIDING LIKE THE LITTLE BITCH THAT SHE IS! Come out and face your death like a REAL ninja!"

There was another odd shift in the air, before the Setting Sun Leader spun around and caught the Ryuuki's fist as she tried to punch him. The rock around his hand cracked. She used his forward momentum to force him to lean forward, and when they were low enough she hooked a foot around his right ankle and violently flipped him over on his back.

He landed with a resounding thud, his breath forced out of his lungs.

The residue of the white fire darted forward and chained his limbs to the earth, slowly sizzling its way through the rock armor. Ryuuki, who had landed on top of the much larger man after flipping him, seemed to breathe in, creating a vacuum. A low howling echoed throughout the clearing as Hozen Renketsu struggled to breathe. After a few more seconds, his jutsu collapsed on itself, as he was too disoriented from lack of oxygen to maintain the armor.

The rocks crumbled down onto the ground, and the chains of white fire flickered out of existence as well. Without oxygen, the fire _also_ couldn't breathe.

Before he could regain control over himself, Ryuuki's body glowed with power—with chakra. But it felt extremely dense and looked decidedly _not_ human. It was a swirling mass of differing shades of gray, like a storm cloud. Ryuuki's grip on Hozen tightened, and the gray chakra transferred over towards Hozen's body. A blood-curling scream was released as the chakra forced itself into the shinobi's body. There was a hideous sizzling sound coming from the man's body, before the Ryuuki floated off of him and hovered a couple feet away.

Hozen Renketsu panted heavily, his body shaking like a leaf. "What—what the hell did you do to me? Feels like my veins are...on fire..."

The dragon mask tilted to the side once more. "Try summoning your chakra..." she whispered.

With a start, he did so, but was horrified to find that he couldn't feel that familiar power anymore. All he could feel was pain.

He sat up, threw back his head, and screamed his throat raw. Up above on the cliff-side, the girl trembled. At first, it sounded like an anguished person's scream, someone who just had something important taken away from him...but then, it got more primal, more guttural.

She looked quickly at Ryuuki, as the faded figure seemed to be...tensing? Did the screaming disturb her as well? The girl squinted, then felt her eyes widen again as the Ryuuki let out an answering snarl, and the gray chakra returned tenfold. Claws sprouted from her finger tips. The mist surrounding the Ryuuki evaporated, leaving her semi-transparent body in full view, and the Ryuuki touched onto the ground for the first time the entire fight.

Growling, the Ryuuki jumped forward to meet Hozen Renketsu in mid-air to trade bone-shattering blows. Slash. Blood spray. Duck. Parry.

The Setting Sun Leader ignored the gaping wounds he received from one particular slash on his abdomen, despite it bleeding freely. Frothing at the mouth, he continued to press onto the smaller kunoichi with animal-like ferocity and speed. The Shishou no Ryuuki responded with the same wild movements.

Ryuuki ducked under one of Hozen's punches, and when he followed up with his other arm, her chakra shot out and _caught it_, allowing her to slam two open palms into his stomach wounds. The gray chakra reached out and grasped his other arm, giving the Ryuuki enough of an opening to pierce through his stomach. The girl winced, seeing a small clawed hand erupt out the shinobi's lower back.

Past the point of feeling pain, Hozen Renketsu kneed the smaller ninja, sending her flying back several yards. The chakra arms extended, and when the Ryuuki landed, swung him up over her head and smashed him into the ground. This process repeated three more times, his body impacting with a sickening _crunch_, before Ryuuki seemed to gain some control over herself again and threw him into a tree. The force of the throw caused the tree to shake threateningly, instead of cracking in half like it should have. The Setting Sun Leader slid down the trunk with a brief groan.

Panting silently and hunched over slightly, the gray chakra receded back into the dragon-masked kunoichi.

Hozen Renketsu didn't even have time to blink before the other ninja was upon him. She swiped at the air in front of his throat, and with a spurt of blood, his head was separated from his body. The head landed on the ground with a small _thump_, his expression frozen in one of pain.

Huddled on top of the mountain cliff-side, the human girl turned her head away. She knew that to get a bounty for missing-nin, you had to bring the body as proof. She didn't want to look at the blood any longer. Standing up, she brushed her tattered dress of dirt and turned around, only to yelp and jump backwards when she came face to face with the impassive dragon mask.

The thing was, when you were standing at the edge of a mountain cliff, turned around, and jumped backwards, there was really nothing to jump back _onto_. Screaming, the girl swung her arms in a wind mill movement, before a strong gust of wind blew her back up to safety. She landed shakily to the right of the Master of Dragon Spirits, who was now hovering a foot off the ground once more.

Shaking from her near death, the girl performed a stiff bow. "A-Arigatou gozaimasu..."

The blood covered spirit only stared at her for a few moments before dipping her head down in a nod. Then, she lifted up an arm, as if to grab the girl's hand, but she only flinched back from it.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Then, she swallowed and bowed her head. "Please, don't touch me." She was a bit surprised to see the fearsome warrior nod stoically and back off a few feet.

There was an awkward minute of silence, at least on the girl's part, before she lifted up her chin and looked the spirit straight in the eyes of her mask. "I need an escort to the nearest town—please," she added, when she realized her words sounded ungrateful.

The Shishou no Ryuuki nodded again and led the way down the mountainside, never going farther than three yards away. When they got to the bottom of the mountain, the girl didn't smell the blood as she thought she would have. Curious despite herself, she left her escort's side and made her way towards the battlefield. What she saw shocked her.

There was absolutely no sign whatsoever that a battle had occurred. There were no dying fires, no gaping craters, no blood—nothing! She turned back to look closely at her guard from her spot two yards away, as if to reassure herself that she was _not_ going delusional. _Yup, she's still got the bloodstains on her._

She sighed in relief. Tilting her head again, the Shishou no Ryuuki gestured towards the trees again and floated away, forcing the girl to follow lest she get left behind.

After over three uncomfortable hours of trudging through the forest, they finally reached the tree borders of a small rural village. The girl rubbed at her aching muscles quietly, not complaining. After all, _she_ was the one that had insisted not to be touched in any way, by dragon or semi-physical spirit. She'd practically asked for the stiffness in her legs.

The girl bowed deeply towards the figure hovering in the shadows. "Thank you for escorting me here. I can handle it from here." She paused after straightening herself out. "But, I need you to promise to do something for me." She took the ghost's silence and continued presence as a sign to keep talking. "I was lucky. I was able to get free from the Setting Sun. But there are many more just like me at the Dawn base in the west and the Dusk base in the south." Now that she had this information out, it seemed as if her spirit had returned to her. The girl pointed accusingly at the Shishou no Ryuuki. "Since _you_ didn't finish the job one and a half months ago, Hozen had been getting more cruel towards his _family_," she spat. "Many have died. Now, the least you could do is free the ones that survived, and kill all of his henchmen."

For a few seconds the floating figure did nothing, then she did something surprising. She bowed slowly at the waist towards the girl, who blushed and smiled nervously. Despite her impassioned speech, she was still only a twelve-year-old girl. She'd actually been scared for a second that she'd be killed for her impudence. The Ryuuki had just saved her life, and then she had the gall to demand something more. So, she had been worried—for nothing, it seems.

The mist returned to hug the small ghost, and the last thing the girl saw was the blank dragon mask, before the mist completely surrounded the Ryuuki. When the mist dissipated, the Shishou no Ryuuki had vanished.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

After dropping off the girl at the small village (ironically the same one she had dropped off the other slaves from before), Akina had returned to 'following her instincts'. Except this time her stomach felt tender due to the brutal knee (which should have shattered all of her ribs, but didn't due to her developing demon blood), she had a massive migraine, and her chakra stores had been depleted by over half. Not to mention the fact that Okami had knocked herself out after temporarily 'taking the reins' of the body, and Ryuu was exhausted and irritated that she couldn't keep Okami asleep the entire fight.

The battle with the Setting Sun Leader would have gone a lot smoother if Okami had not woken up and went into a wild rage. What should have been an A-Class battle of devastating skills had been reduced to a high B-Class low A-Class brawl between two ninja who had lost control of themselves.

Akina let out a silent sigh, then she frowned when she felt a pull at her being from another direction, much closer than her original destination.

Thirty minutes later, she was back on track—with a shabby hitai-ate tied around her waist like a belt. That other pull had been from a departing soul, a kunoichi from the Rice Fields Village of old, before the country had been taken over by Orochimaru. Apparently the young teenage girl had been taken into slavery for a year before her Setting Sun captors had thought she had too much of a spirit and had her killed by drowning in a small bog fifteen years ago.

The dead kunoichi had wanted to thank the one that had killed the Leader of the Setting Sun, and gave her her old ninja headband to keep as part of her belated dying wish. The other part was making her death site for her. Under the instructions of the Rice Fields ninja, Akina had created a small gravestone made of nevermelting ice that told the world the kunoichi's birthday and death-date, but not her name. A snarling dragon was carved into it, rearing up as if to strike you down. On its breast was the kanji for the Rice Fields Village (the same as on the hitai-ate), except it was pierced by a sword that looked exactly like Orochimaru's legendary Kusanagi.

Satisfied, the Rice Fields ninja had passed on towards Makai. Oddly enough, Akina felt her spirit move in the direction of Konoha, but thought no more on it.

Akina would not realize until too late that by giving into the dead kunoichi's last wishes the way she did, she was causing a chain of events to set into motion—one that would cause her much trouble in the future.

Out of habit, she had carved her trademark crescent moon insignia onto the snarling dragon on the gravestone.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

At the large, fortress-like gates of the Yamabushi Temple, a middle-aged monk stretched out his muscles and worked out the kinks in his neck. Across from him, his monk brother was silently gazing down the long stone staircase in front of them.

He raised a single eyebrow. "Is there anything wrong, brother? If there is, we need to tell the next shift, since we need to switch off for dinner soon."

"Yes...," the younger monk responded slowly, as if not really sure of something. "I sense something approaching..."

The older monk nodded agreeably. His younger brother was one of the best in the mountain temple at detecting others, so he didn't doubt what he just said. He merely turned to stare in the same direction.

Before their eyes, a cloud of mist formed about twenty-five yards away, growing steadily larger until it covered ten stairs. Both monks shifted into defensive stances, ready to defend their temple. Even when the recognizable dragon ANBU mask materialized out of the mist, they did not falter. In fact, they tightened their stances.

"Shishou no Ryuuki!" called out the older monk. "You are well known throughout the Elemental Countries as a benevolent rogue ninja. Please state your business here."

The dragon mask turned until it was looking directly at the monk who spoke. "Something...called me here. I do not know what," came a rough, low growling voice. It was distinctly feminine and young.

The two monks traded looks, then relaxed. After a few seconds of silent communication, the younger monk spoke to the kunoichi. "We cannot reveal any information out here, but we believe we know of what you search for. I will escort you to our eldest brother monk, after we've had our dinner." They opened the large gates. Her escort beckoned towards her. "Come. I will show you to a room where you may rest for tonight."

As the younger monk led the way towards the sleeping quarters, he paid no heed to the fact that this _spirit_ may not need rest, but it was only polite. He also did not bring up the fact that he could not sense the Shishou no Ryuuki at all—spirit aura, scent, or chakra signature.

As they passed by sister priestesses and brother monks heading towards the dining hall, they did nothing but nod respectfully to the two. They approached a large building with many shouji doors, and he opened one for her.

"Here is your room, Ryuuki-san. Will you be needing one of us to bring you some nourishment?" At seeing the mask turning from side to side, he bowed politely to her. "Alright then. Our eldest brother monk will come some time after dinner. I wish you a good night's rest." And he closed the shouji door after the obscured figure floated inside.

Once inside her room, Akina tilted her head. It was small, but comfortable, with a single futon and a low table placed on a tatami mat floor. Well-used, flat pillowed surrounded the low table.

She glided over to the futon and sat down cross-legged, but frowned behind the mask when she found that although she could feel herself sitting, she could not feel the futon itself. Then, when she realized the mischievous little spirit that had possessed her air dragon was causing her to sit a few inches above the futon, she tried to take control of the dragon again, only to feel it coil around her tighter and—was it _scolding_ her?

Some of the mist dispelled, leaving only a few wisps to curl around Akina. The air dragon rested its invisible head on Akina's shoulder, satisfied with its comfortable position.

That's how the wizened old monk found her an hour later, after announcing his presence and opening the shouji door. Akina flew back into a standing position, allowing the aged man to get a good look at the Shishou no Ryuuki.

He noted the white bone armor of the ANBU and the form-fitting black tank and black elbow-length half gloves. With the porcelain dragon mask, one would have mistaken her for an extremely young ANBU, if not for two things. One, parts of her body looked transparent, while others are obscured by the mist. These things gave her the look of a semi-physical ghost. Two, she was wearing a tattered blue hitai-ate around her waist that belonged to a village long since gone. The Rice Fields Village, of the Rice Fields Country—now the Sound Country.

"Konbonwa, Shishou no Ryuuki-san." She bowed once, silent. "I've been told by my younger brothers that you were called here?" At her nod, he smiled. "Yes, I believe I know what called you. But I think you should answer that call first."

He stepped to the side to allow Akina to float out of the room. After closing the door, he followed her as she listened to what her instincts were telling her once more. Five minutes of wandering brought them to a large building at the exact center of the temple. They stopped in front of the closed doors.

The old monk nodded. This only confirmed his suspicions. "Ah, yes. I thought so. You may go inside, Ryuuki-san."

The double-doors opened slowly of their own accord, and they both went inside.

_It's where they keep the statues of the gods,_ Akina realized.

They went up to the back of the room to pray to the ten-foot bronze statues. The eldest monk watched, intrigued by the order in which the Shishou no Ryuuki paid respects to the gods. First kami-sama and Shinigami-sama, then Seiryuu-sama and the other major deities, Byakko-sama, Suzaku-sama, and Genbu-sama.

"That's interesting." Akina turned around and tilted her head questionably. "The order in which you prayed," clarified the monk. "Usually, people pray to kami-sama first, then the major deities and the Four Guardians. Shinigami-sama is usually prayed to last out of fear, unfortunately. But you...how very interesting—and telling." He rubbed his chin in thought. "And since you haven't been struck down by the gods yet, this order in which you pray is accepted by those above."

The now familiar ethereal breeze appeared for a few moments, prompting a hurried and reverent bow towards Seiryuu's statue. The priest seemed to be listening to something, then looked, shocked, at the peaceful Akina.

"Hai, hai Seiryuu-sama. As you wish." He turned his now serious eyes towards the 'ghost'. "This might take some time, Ryuuki-san. We might as well make ourselves comfortable." He sat down at a respectable distance from the statues. Akina glided over to hover cross-legged in front of him, sitting a few inches off of the tatami mats.

The old priest cleared his throat. "As is common knowledge, the Elemental Countries are located in the eastern region of the world, thus putting us under the protection of Seiryuu-sama, the Azure Dragon of the East. He Guards our Gate to Makai. Surrounding the Gate are five locations in which a certain elemental energy radiates. If you 'connected the dots', so to speak, these give points form an upside-down star. When drawing this star, we create a pentagram. Each point of this pentagram is the exact location where two elemental energies cross. Yamabushi Temple was built at the point where the earth elemental and the lightning elemental intersect.

Of course, the locations of the sources of the elements does not dictate how well you can use the elements. They merely tell us where the elements in Seiryuu's Domain originate."

He looked past Akina, his eyes glazed over in thought. He knew that the Shishou no Ryuuki was not a threat, and so allowed himself to let his guard down.

"The Yamabushi Temple also happens to be the closest Sacred Temple to what used to be the Rice Fields Country. This is probably why you were attracted to this location, Ryuuki-san. Do you have any questions?"

The dragon mask dipped downwards in a single nod. "Can you please tell me the locations and names of the other Sacred Temples?"

"Certainly. The Yamabushi Temple is located at the northern point of the pentagram, and is where earth and lightning cross. The Seiran Temple is in the northern part of River Country, and is where earth and wind cross. The Nanko Temple is located on an island off the coast of Wind Country, and is where wind and water cross. The Urahara Temple was built on the southern lands of the Fire Country, and is where water and fire cross. The Kaika Temple is located to the northwest of the Wave Country, in the Fire Country. This is where fire and lightning cross."

He stood up and stretched. "I hope this lecture has been informative, Ryuuki-san. You may stay in here as long as you want. Just make sure to close the doors after you leave. If you'll excuse me, I have to go do some meditation and get some sleep."

"Oyasuminasai (good night, formal)," she whispered.

The monk bowed. "Oyasuminasai." And he left.

Akina let herself slip into a meditative trance, sending herself at once into her mind-scape. As was normal after coming here, she had to blink her eyes rapidly at the sudden appearance of color, and anything associated with seeing in general.

After her vision had focused, she ran off towards Okami's Cave, to find Ryuu resting while keeping a watchful blue-gray eye on Okami.

The dragon let her gaze switch to Akina briefly before focusing back on the knocked out wolf cub. **"Konbonwa, Akina,"** she greeted quietly.

"Konbonwa, Ryuu. Okami?"

"**Still knocked out cold. It'll be at least a day before she shows any signs of waking. You shouldn't touch her,"** she added, when Akina made a move to pet Okami's head. She made an approving noise when Akina backed off and just sat herself on the grass.

"**Usually a demon's family are the ones that advise a newly maturing demon about this, but since Kouseki isn't here and wouldn't have been allowed to say anything anyways, Okami and I have been given this knowledge by the gods that be."**

She took a moment to collect her thoughts.

"**Up until the age of maturity for a demon, they are given complete access to all the elements out of the five primary elements that they will be able to control in their lifetime. These are, of course: Fire, Earth, Lightning, Water, and Wind. The intermediate elements include, but are not limited to: Metal, Light, Shadow, Wood, and Ice. And not the flimsy little frozen water you've been using before, either.**

**This time period of complete access could be compared to a testing phase, for which primary elements you are more in tune to and/or want to train in the future. Because of your, our unique heritage, you are capable of controlling all five. Fire and lightning come naturally from your dragon blood. Water and Earth come naturally from your wolf blood. Wind comes from both, and so it is the element that you are most comfortable with.**

**Now, you might ask what happens after this 'testing phase' is over and you mature. Well, in the backwards order of how well you are in tune to the primary elements, you lose control of them until you go to the origin of each element and get their approval to get control again. You have to do this only one time, even though there are eight sets of origin points, one for each of the Guardian's Domains in both Makai and Ningenkai.**

**As you can tell, we are least oriented towards Earth. That's why we lost active control of that first. Water is the second-worst. We've never actually used Lightning, since we didn't have the chance, so the other three's order is unknown."**

Ryuu gave Akina a minute to soak in the information.

" 'Get their approval'?"

"**Oh. The beings in charge of the elements are elemental sprites. Depending on the landscape, these elemental sprites are scattered throughout the lands. As long as there are elemental sprites around, other beings are able to take control of the elements. Being closer to an elemental sprite does not strengthen your control and power, nor does being far away from an elemental sprites weaken them." **

Ryuu's lips curled back in a fanged smile. **"The playful little thing that's taken control of your wind dragon is a wind sprite, who apparently got impatient at your delayed visit to its ancestral grounds and has set out to 'collect you'. Wind sprites are generally freedom-loving, mischievous in a carefree sort of way."**

"Ah."

"**If we would have to describe the five primary elemental sprites, the wind sprites would be the free-spirited child. Fire sprites would be temperamental teenagers or pregnant women. Either one fits. Water sprites would be the sweet little sister or the regal Lady/Lord. Earth sprites would be the protective big brother. And the lightning sprites would be the wild child—emotionless and neutral towards everything.**

**To get the elemental sprites' approval, you have to show them that you are worthy of controlling them. You should leave earth for last. You need to get back your control over the elements that you are more oriented towards."** She snorted then. **"As one of the wind sprites has already attached itself to you, pun intended, you have temporary permission until you visit their home territory."**

"Fire first, then."

Ryuu grunted in agreement. **"Since you're here, you might as well train yourself. Soul projection training in particular."**

"I wanted to get more in touch with you first, Ryuu."

If Ryuu had eyebrows, she would have raised them. **"Oh? So the impassive Akina is actually stating her opinions? Well, okay then. I will tell you what it means to be a noble dragon. Pay attention."**

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"Zabuza-sama, please don't bother those monks!"

Haku rushed forward to drag his master away from the monks, who had just been about to commence their morning meditation.

"I must apologize for my master! I'll make sure it won't happen again!"

The oldest of the bunch merely chuckled and shook his head. "It is no bother, shinobi-san." He bowed. "I bid you good day."

As the monks continued on their way to the gardens, Haku sent an exasperated look towards Momochi Zabuza. "Zabuza-sama, these monks were kind enough to give us food and shelter! Please don't make them regret doing that!"

Zabuza just snorted. "Yeah right. Like these religious baldies would do that. It's against their ways to turn away the needy." He went over what he just said. "Not that we're needy, or anything."

"If you say so, Zabuza-sama." It was at Haku's request for a real bed for once that has led to them coming here, after all. "Since we don't have anything else to do here, we might as well go pay our respects in their prayer hall."

Zabuza shrugged, not caring one way or another. He just followed the effeminate shinobi towards the center of the Yamabushi Temple.

"Here we are!" Haku said cheerfully, as if to make up for Zabuza's lack of enthusiasm. And he pushed open the double-doors.

Only to stop and stare at the sight of a small, obscured figure surrounded by mist. Zabuza brushed his way past the teenager, keeping one hand on the hilt of his Kubikiri Hochou.

He motioned Haku forward, to back him up. Haku obeyed wordlessly, his hands in his sleeves in preparation to throw his senbon needles.

Haku blurred out of existence, appearing in front of the faded figure, towards the right. His hands shot out of his sleeves, and at this action, Zabuza lifted his zanbatou and swung it, assuming that Haku was throwing out his senbon.

"NO, ZABUZA-SAMA!" What had been perceived as a 'senbon-throwing' movement was really a 'don't swing' movement.

Grimacing, Zabuza re-directed his blade's swing instantly, dangerously close to the sitting figure's head.

It wouldn't have mattered anyways, as the moment the blade had penetrated the mist, the unknown person had disappeared. Without the person in its center, the mist slowly dissipated.

"What the hell?!"

Silently giving thanks to all of the kami-sama for the quick save (creepily enough, he felt an answering thrum in his mind), Haku breathed a sigh of relief.

"That wasn't an enemy!"

"I should hope not," came a low, growling voice.

Both shinobi turned around to see the small figure of the Shishou no Ryuuki melting back out of the shadows, the mist returning once more. They still got a good look at her semi-ghost-like appearance, though.

Upon seeing the familiar apathetic dragon mask, the infamous Demon of the Bloody Mist burst out into laughter.

Haku looked at his master, a bit confused. "Zabuza-sama?"

Stopping himself for a few moments, Zabuza just grinned toothily at the Shishou no Ryuuki, who had tilted her head to the side.

"I figured you were a short brat of a girl."

Akina let him show his mirth for a few more seconds before responding. "Your rumors say otherwise."

Zabuza settled down. "Yeah, well when you're a nuke-nin, you don't have much to entertain you."

Haku bowed lowly. "I am deeply sorry if we have caused any trouble for you, Ryuuki-sama."

Akina shook her head. "It was no trouble."

Zabuza, having been shaking his head at Haku's repetitive apologies, now looked at Akina curiously. "Hey, what the hell's your name anyways? I was the one that made up your Shishou no Ryuuki nickname, and I guess it kind of stuck." A bright idea struck him then. "Unless you, being a Rice Fields kunoichi spirit who's returned back from Makai, have forgotten your name! And while you had been in Makai you had somehow gained control of the ghosts of the great dragons, and that power transferred over here when you came back to Ningenkai."

As he wove the story aloud, the ideas growing steadily more wild as he went, Haku had sighed at his master's behavior.

"Gomen nasai, Ryuuki-sama." He looked down at where Akina's feet hovered a foot off of the tatami mats. "But Zabuza-sama was right about you looking like a ghost." He peered at a semi-transparent patch on Akina's right arm. "May I...?" He lifted up his hand, gesturing towards her arm.

Akina just lifted up her right arm, inwardly amused at both nuke-nin's behaviors.

Haku reached out to poke the faded patch, and gave a start when his finger went right through her arm.

The kunoichi showed her discomfort by stiffening slightly. She had let Haku touch her to prove that she wasn't really a ghost, so she hadn't expected his finger to phase through.

Ryuu chuckled. **'More of the wind sprite's tricks. Apparently it doesn't want the ghostly fun to end.'**

Wanting to confirm something, Haku touched one of the non-transparent parts of her arm, and felt the skin beneath his arm.

"How interesting...," he muttered, unknowingly echoing the old monk. "Are you even human anymore?"

Zabuza had gone silent, having watched the strange scene.

Akina shook her head again. _I was never human to begin with._

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"GWAHAHAHAHA! Seriously?!"

This was Kouseki, obviously. She'd been silent for the most part through the re-telling of her 24-hours or so outside of the village, dropping a few comments here and there, but Zabuza's reaction to her mysterious ghost-like tendencies were what cracked her gut.

The former Swordsman had gone right up to the girl and started poking her at random places non-stop for about five minutes, strangely fascinated.

Kakashi and Naruto just sweat dropped. They'd only met the guy twice, both battle situations, and even _they_ could tell that this kind of strange behavior was to be expected from him.

Akina had arrived in Konoha just in time to catch the rest of Team Seven save Sasuke (who was still on his mission), before they went out to check out the second day of the three-day Hanami Festival (flower viewing festival) and get some lunch. She'd just told them about her day in their living room after showering.

Impatient to get to the festival, Naruto glomped Akina and started to drag her to the door, only to stop when she stiffened. Hurt, Naruto let go and backed off a couple steps.

"W-What?"

Akina just rubbed at her aching stomach. _Natural demonic defenses do not equal natural demonic regeneration, _Akina noted to herself. Just because some attacks didn't do as much damage as it should have done had she been mortal, didn't automatically mean that she'd be able to heal just as well. Those punches should have shattered all the bones in her body and pulverized her muscles to mush, not give her painful bruises.

She turned back towards Naruto to tell him why she had reacted the way she did, but he had already gone out the door.

Frowning, Kakashi was about to reprimand Akina when she cut in. "Hozen gave me a bruise on my stomach."

At that, their sensei just blinked. "Oh. Well, you should go explain that to Naruto as soon as possible. He had a bad encounter with some villagers yesterday while you were gone..."

Frowning, Akina rushed out the door, towards a tense figure walking ahead towards where their former Academy classmates were standing with Neji's team.

"Naruto." She reached out to grasp his shoulder and stop him, but he just shrugged her off.

"Save it," he grunted. "I don't wanna hear it."

Since they just entered into the other young ninjas' range of earshot, Akina couldn't continue trying to reach out to the jinchuuriki without lying or revealing that she had been out of the village the day before. Naruto had also blocked both she and Kouseki's minds from him, so they couldn't talk to him that way either.

Kiba blinked when the two came to a stop in front of them, a tense atmosphere in the air. "What's with you two?"

When Naruto didn't answer, merely ignoring the question and greeting the other genin (the rest of the Konoha 12), Akina just shook her head.

Kouseki padded up to them then. ("It's nothing you need to concern yourself with. Just some Team Seven problems.")

"Oh...okay then?"

There was an uneasy silence for a minute or so, where Naruto refused to look in Akina's direction. Kiba shared confused looks with Ino and Hinata.

The Hyuuga heiress shifted and lifted up her picnic basket to eye-level. "A-Ano...we should leave now. W-We need to get a good s-spot."

"Yes, let's go," said Neji, leading the others away. He held two other picnic baskets that Hinata had wanted to bring, but couldn't carry.

Kiba and Ino hung back to walk next to Akina and Kouseki at the back of the group.

"Hey, Nature Girl," Ino said quietly, keeping a close eye on Naruto, who was ahead of them and surrounded by Hinata and Neji's Team. "What's up with you and Naruto?"

Kiba raised both eyebrows. "Didn't you hear Kouseki? They have problems within the team right now."

The Yamanaka just rolled her eyes. "Not everyone can understand animals like you and Nature Girl, mutt."

Rubbing the back of his head, Kiba just laughed it off, grinning. "Whoops, kinda forgot. Guess I'm too used to Akina-chan."

"I'll bet," responded Ino dryly.

The large group found a good spot by the river-side, underneath a particularly large blooming cherry tree. All throughout their little social, the non-Team Seven ninja couldn't help but notice that Akina and Naruto sat on opposite sides of the blankets, and didn't speak to each other. It made things awkward.

After fifteen minutes or so of this, Akina sighed silently and got up, bowing in apology to the others.

Kiba frowned. "You're leaving already?"

Akina nodded. "Gomen nasai, minna-san." And she left via Konoha Shunshin, Petal Blossom Style (seeing as there was so many falling anyways).

The Inuzuka sighed, and Akamaru whined a little. "Geeze, Naruto-baka! Why'd you have to chase her off like that?"

He had said it in a joking manner, but Naruto it seemed, was in no mood for jokes like that.

Naruto shrugged, unconcerned. "It's not like she's able to see the blooming flowers anyways. She's blind."

Immediately, he flinched at his own words, wanting to take them back. But the damage had already been done.

The group went silent.

"Dude, Naruto...what the hell happened? You're not acting like yourself," questioned Kiba.

"S'none of your business!" Naruto jumped to his feet and stormed off. Kouseki went to follow him, to make sure he didn't get into any trouble.

Shikamaru sighed. "Mendosuke..."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Akina appeared in Hokage's office, bowing. The buxom blonde glance up from her paperwork only to nod towards Shizune, who was sitting at the couch.

"Shizune will help you out from now on, Akina," she said, referring to her ANBU tattoo. To keep up Ryuuki's rogue ANBU reputation, they had to burn off the tattoo before each trip out of the village. As Akina now had natural demonic defenses, and was a dragon, the only fire that could actually do any damage let alone burn her skin was her own white fire, and only if she really concentrated.

_Or the Uchiha's Amaterasu,_ she added to herself, as she sat down in order to let Shizune give her the blue ANBU insignia again.

As the gentle buzzing filled her ears, Akina felt Kouseki leave a message for her before retreating back to her own mind.

"_Naruto is wandering around and seems to accept me shadowing him. Don't come back to the house. That's most likely where he'll end up eventually."_

"There we go, Akina-chan! All done." Shizune patted her shoulder and scurried off to return to her previous duties.

Akina stood up to leave.

"Akina!" Tsunade barked. "I'll need your report on your 'extracurricular activities' by tomorrow."

"Wakatta, Hokage-sama."

As it was only a little past 1 pm, Akina took it upon herself to use her stealth skills to her advantage. She silently observed the people of Konoha as they celebrated the blooming of the spring flowers. It was a requirement for ANBU to have a certain amount of understanding of the human psyche, but that class could easily have been passed by mere memorization. Never had Akina actually applied it—and so, that was what she was doing...analyzing the humans.

It had been going smoothly; the people behaved happily and relaxed, on this event of life and celebration...that is, until a distracted Naruto wandered too close to the festivities. Almost immediately, the mood in the air flipped. Akina forced herself to sit tight and watch. She told herself not to interfere, since she knew full-well that the boy would _not_ appreciate it. He'd told them once that the villagers were _his_ problem, and he wouldn't have any one of his precious people deal with the ignorant hatred.

As the conflict grew steadily worse, the words of the late Setting Sun Leader returned to her in a flash.

_There will _always_ be hate in this world._

The villagers glared angrily at the demon container, uncontrollable rage taking over their auras.

_People will _always_ find someone else to blame for their troubles._

Akina scanned their auras more intently. Hidden underneath the anger was fear, grief, and just a tiny bit of confusion.

_You will _always_ find darkness in the hearts of the living. _

A mob started to form on the street. Naruto stiffened, looking at them warily. Akina's wolf instincts itched at her to help her pack brother, but her dragon instincts told her that this was _his_ battle.

_And when that darkness shows itself, even for the briefest moments of time, I open my arms in welcome to my new brother!_

Just as the crowd encircled the orange-clad ninja, he jumped onto the roof and got away. Angrily muttering, they didn't disperse until five minutes later, the anger still like a taint in their auras. The happiness from before could no longer be found.

_It's...disgusting._ Akina was surprised at herself at this thought. Kouseki had always had a strong distaste for the ningen in general, and Akina had just accepted it and moved on, never questioning it. Sure, she witnessed these kinds of scenes many times over the years, but now, after her encounter with Hozen Renketsu...she understood her cousin.

And she wondered if the youkai were like this also.

Ryuu, having been woken from her brief nap by the malicious auras, stayed quiet. She didn't have an answer for the Core.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Once again, the young youkai found herself inside the underground ANBU bar, quietly observing the room's occupants alongside her vice-captain and Kenshiki, who had wandered in nearly two hours before. As they couldn't reveal their codenames, they passed the time with re-introducing themselves to each other and trying to find out if some supposed rumors were true—even though they were there at the actual events in question.

"Hey, were you the trainee that set that little mountain lion on—?"

"No, that was another trainee. I heard that someone skipped class during stealth training."

"Oi! The point of stealth training is staying hidden! S'not my fault if the rest of my group couldn't find me!"

Matsuda Takeo, formerly known as Kenshiki, took a sip from his sake bottle six hours later, staring over the rim at Akina. _So...she's on the same team as the demon container, huh?_ His amber-red eyes glazed over slightly as several frightening childhood memories came to the forefront of his mind. He smacked himself mentally. Now was not the right time for that!

There was a lull in the conversation at the moment. Takeo's eyes glinted with humor as he observed the silent girl. _Is she...people-watching? I know her well enough to sense that she honestly seems curious about the others._ He laughed inwardly. Akina reminded him of a curious little puppy, the way she tilted her head to the side whenever she found something particularly interesting to observe (though he couldn't tell what they were for sure).

Her vice-captain apparently had the same thoughts, seeing as she had just chuckled lowly and shook her head in mock exasperation.

Now that he had a name to attach to the face (or what he could see of it, since she had her hitai-ate over her eyes), Takeo shuffled around his mind and called up all of the information he had on the girl from the past six months or so.

Takamaru Akina is a quiet thirteen-year-old who does her best to avoid confrontations in general, not because she wasn't strong enough to deal with them, but because she just didn't see any reason behind the pointless squabbles. She's extremely observant. This surprised him, seeing as he just found out a few hours ago (it was now around 11 pm) that she was _blind_, of all things! How the hell did she become a Stealth Master?! It confused him to no end, but he ended up just accepting it.

Unless they were on a mission or she had something extremely important to say, she was usually silent unless spoken to—and even then, you weren't guaranteed a verbal response. Usually just a head movement. Any talking was done with as few words as possible, while still getting the point across.

This behavior made her come off as cold-hearted and uncaring, with an attitude not unlike those of the Aburame, and maybe the Uchiha and Hyuuga. While her verbal communication skills were lacking, she was always extremely polite and proper, so that was a plus for her, he supposed. Takeo was in fact extremely surprised that Akina kept the light banter going on her end for those few minutes.

_Also,_ he thought wryly, _I have never once heard her speak badly about anyone._

"Time?"

Takeo jerked himself from his mental review to briefly glance at the clock near the bartender. "11:13 pm."

Nodding once, Akina slipped out of her seat.

"Leaving us already ochibi?" drawled a relaxed Genma, watching a drunk Anko arm wrestle another operative. "The fun was just about to get started!" This statement was punctuated by Anko smashing the other ANBU's arm onto the table hard enough to heavily dent the heavy-duty steel.

Yuugao made a disagreeing sound. "I believe six and a half hours is enough bar time for a thirteen year old, taichou. Leave her be." The sternness of her words were offset by the amusement in her tone.

Bowing her head in thanks, Akina let herself be half-hugged by her former trainee partner before walking out of the room.

Something...didn't quite feel right. But she couldn't tell what was wrong. It was like having an annoying itch that you just couldn't scratch. All Akina knew was that she had to get back home as soon as possible.

"_Kouseki,"_ she called out. No response. All Akina could sense was that her cousin was outside of Konoha and busy.

This only increased her sense of urgency, and she quickly changed back into her everyday clothes, using Shunshin to appear on top of the Hokage Mountain immediately after. She sped off towards the far off corner of the town where Team Seven's house was, quickly checking the small of her back. Yes, the wakizashi that Sasuke had given to her was strapped there securely.

Halfway to the house, the young demon checked over the link to Naruto's mind to find great stress, anger, sadness, bitterness—such strong, negative emotions. It made her head pound. She knew that it wasn't good for her unique mental condition to be exposed to this, but she had to keep the link open so that she could keep track of her teammate's status.

In her mindscape, Ryuu opened two tired, irritated blue-gray eyes and sat up. But she did not miss Okami moving slightly in her knocked out state.

**'Akina.'**

_I know._

As stealthy as possible, Akina dived into the large tree nearest to the living room window, where she knew Naruto was. Casting her senses about, she focused on what was going on inside, while still being alert to any other dangers.

Alcohol. The smell was overpowering and would have completely obscured any other scents in the house had she not come into demon maturity.

There were six spirit auras in the house, one of them being Naruto. Two auras were upstairs in she and Naruto's rooms, going through their stuff. She stubbornly ignored the slight boiling of her blood at the intrusion. This was not the time for demonic possessiveness.

The strongest of the drunkards was downstairs in the living room with Naruto; a jounin, she guessed, and the two others beside him chuunin.

Akina forcibly broke through the block that Naruto was keeping between their two minds, the sheer urgency of the situation guiding her.

"_Naruto."_

Pain. Emotional pain _and_ physical pain. She showed him where she was, and Ryuu firmly ordered Naruto to stay calm, not make any sudden movements, and let them do the dirty work. Naruto grudgingly agreed.

There was a series of dull thumps, coupled with slurred yelling. Naruto's pain level spiked repeatedly, but he kept as still as possible, honoring his word.

Akina climbed up to the top of the tree and lighted silently onto the rooftop, getting herself inside using Sasuke's window—though she was a little exasperated afterwards. All of them had gone around the house and set up as many security measures as possible, so it took her a while to actually open the fan-girl/boy-proof window.

She sneaked into the hallway via the ceiling and walls, stopping outside of the nearest enemy—in _her_ room. She waited, upside down on the ceiling with her hands on the door frame for her chance to strike. Though she was as calm as ever, she found herself itching to draw their blood. A dense haze descended upon her mind, letting her focus entirely on her objectives.

Take out the threats. Protect what's hers.

_Now!_ Both chuunin had their backs turned towards the doorways. Akina gripped the top of the door frame and flipped into the room at high speeds, wrapping her strong legs around his head. She pressed her forefingers to his temples and applied intense pressure, flipping off just in time to catch the unconscious Konoha-nin before he hit the carpet from the force of their silent collision.

She dragged him out of view and left her room without a second thought. The drunk chuunin in Naruto's room was knocked out with the same ease, but now her blood was really pumping the adrenaline throughout her system. A strangled growl brought the majority of her attention back downstairs.

Naruto.

Akina crawled along the walls, dropping onto the floor next to the open living room doorway and out of sight.

She resisted the urge to rub at her temples to stave off the throbbing migraine. There was a dull rumbling sound at the back of her head, and she wasn't quite sure what to make of that. She _already_ felt like battering rams were smashing into her brain due to Naruto's situation.

Akina focused on the living room, the source of alcoholic stench. The line of her lips twitched downwards.

Seventy-six sake bottles. _Seventy-six._

Porcelain shattering caused her to wince as the scent of Naruto's blood teased her senses.

The jounin in charge was yelling again. Honestly, Akina was utilizing some selective hearing, paying attention only little snippets alluding to the reason why they were here. She blocked out the rest of his drunk slurring.

"...deeeeemon ssspawnnn...'ll fuckin' kill youuu...damn Kyuubi...my koibito died 'cuzzuv you..."

Naruto clenched his fists angrily. Akina's blood started pumping faster at the rage.

"_Ignore it!"_ she barked, hands twitching.

"...n'll have some fun withyur lil...lil bitch...when she getzback..."

A low snarl and a healthy amount of killer intent was all he got in reply. Akina forcibly calmed herself down and set to work on clearing her mind. She felt some activity in the back of her mindscape, but it was strangely muffled to her.

There was a dark chuckle. One of the two chuunin in the room. "What's wrong, Kyuubi? Don't wanna share your blind whore?"

When Naruto remained silent (she could feel his death glare), light chuckles filled the room, as well as an intoxicated cackle.

Two semi-sober chuunin and one drunk jounin.

Akina sensed one of the chuunin shuffle forward to whisper something in Naruto's ear. Feeling a strong sense of foreboding, she blocked out what he was saying, concentrating on keeping her cool and waiting for the right moment to strike. She let her right hand move back to grasp the hilt of her wakizashi.

The loathing and disgust she sensed through her link to Naruto steadily increased.

She didn't even flinch when Naruto let out an angry roar.

But she did when she felt an extremely familiar malicious aura in the back of Naruto's mind.

The Kyuubi no Kitsune howled, promising pain to whoever was hurting his mortal body.

Akina, feeling there was no other choice, forced her will through the link and temporarily shut Naruto's mind down.

But not before she felt herself answer that howl.

**'Gomen, Akina.'**

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

When Akina gained control of her body again, she found herself hovering protectively over the fallen form of her teammate, arm outstretched in a throwing stance.

Directly across from her was the drunk jounin, her wakizashi cutting clean through his skull dead center and pinning him to the wall.

The main source of the blood in the air. At the very least it was covering up some of the alcohol.

The two chuunin, who were most likely the masterminds behind this plan, probably weren't going to be waking up for a week or so, healing or not. It felt like she really beat them up.

Her quick sweep of the surroundings done, her pounding headache returned full-force, now accompanied by a loud ringing in her ears. A concussion.

She carefully checked over the rest of her tired body, slowly lowering herself to sit against the wall next to Naruto.

Her right arm was broken in at least three places, but at least they felt like clean breaks. Her left ankle was either twisted badly or fractured—she couldn't really tell. And more bruises were scattered about, joining the ones given to her the day before by the Setting Sun Leader.

A low, muffled groan sounded out in front of her.

"Nnh...the hell?"

"_I knocked you out. Kyuubi."_ Akina withheld a grimace. Talking telepathically whilst enduring a serious concussion was _not_ a good idea.

The body on the floor shifted, and Naruto flipped over onto his back. He let out a loud sigh and turned his head to the side to check her injuries.

"You alright?"

"...No," she replied in deadpan. She pinched the bridge of her nose with her left hand, frowning a little. "...There are two more upstairs."

"...What?"

A throat was cleared, and Naruto whipped up into a low defensive position. Then he relaxed, though only minutely. ANBU Captain.

_Oh, Akina-chan was talking to the ANBU._

"Thank you for informing us, Takamaru-san. Since your injuries don't look like they need immediate care, I would like to know what happened." Not a request, an order.

Akina nodded towards Naruto to start.

He'd gotten home at around six and didn't to much for the rest of that time save eating. At around a quarter before eleven, the five broke into the house—apparently Naruto must have forgotten to reset the traps around their yard after he got through. The two chuunin pinned Naruto to the wall before he could react, and the other two chuunin had summoned up the rest of their sake and threatened to blow them all up with explosive tags if he didn't 'cooperate'.

Apparently the heavily intoxicated jounin had some skill with the drunken fist, because every time Naruto had tried to escape he'd get beaten back down again.

So that was how she got so hurt?

After Naruto finished up with him being knocked out by Akina, the girl reiterated what happened from her point of view, keeping it as professional as possible—short and to the point. The only things she didn't mention were her loss of control and the fact that the death of the jounin was fully legal. Now that she thought about it, one of the two knocked out chuunin should get the death sentence as well.

She'd tell them later in her full report. _She_ knew that the _ANBU Captain_ knew that _she_ was an ANBU as well. Akina recognized him from the bar.

The rest of the ANBU platoon had by then finished investigating and had taken the four chuunin into custody. The jounin was being taken to the morgue.

"Takamaru-san," said the Captain. "I'll have to arrest you, for killing a fellow Konoha-nin."

Akina just nodded and slowly got up, using the wall she was leaning against as leverage.

Naruto bit his lip and looked away, sullen. He knew. He knew that this was all his fault.

But...those guys had broken the Sandaime's law. They had talked about the Kyuubi being sealed inside him.

The jinchuuriki looked at the place where he knew the man's eyes were behind the mask, trying to convey his meaning without saying it out loud.

"Arrest does not mean imprisonment," Akina murmured, once she had managed to stand up straight.

Naruto just made a disgruntled sound at the back of his throat.

The ANBU Captain stepped forward and put a hand on the shoulder that was not bruised. They both disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Naruto's fists tightened.

"...I'm sorry, Akina-chan..."

It was _his_ fault. All his fault.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Takamaru Akina stood before the Village Council three days later, straight-backed and silent with one hand behind her back and her legs a shoulder-width apart. It was as close as she could get to the classic military position, given that her right arm was in a sling.

Her bruises were on their way to healing, but she still also had to wear a brace on her left ankle and had bandages around her head. Apparently she also took a hit to the head, but didn't notice it due to her concussion. So she wasn't wearing her hitai-ate, but she kept her eyes closed.

Standing to her left, a safe distance away, were the two chuunin who had been in the living room. They woken up the day before since they had not consumed as much sake, and had already been interrogated by Ibiki's people. The Council got all the information they needed from those two.

All that had to be decided now were the punishments.

It was...complicated.

As a mere thirteen-year-old chuunin, Akina was technically not supposed to know about the truth behind the Kyuubi incident, as she was was not old enough to remember what really happened—ignoring the fact that she had not even lived in the village until age six, of course. If you followed this line of thinking, then Akina had no reason to kill the jounin, since death was too big a punishment for the invasion of privacy and beatings.

But Naruto had told his team the truth. So all that didn't matter. Anyone who talked about the Kyuubi incident without Naruto or the Hokage's permission was to be sentenced to death immediately.

Ibiki's people had found out the the five who had attacked had not known that Akina had known about the Kyuubi. They talked about the Kyuubi in the range of hearing of a person that could have possibly not known the truth. It could have been anyone that was eavesdropping, and yet they talked about it anyways.

On top of all that, the five had all consumed alcohol; only the two chuunin in the living room had been sober enough to be fully responsible for their actions.

And what would they tell the people of Konoha that _didn't_ know the truth?

Complicated.

"Takamaru Akina, chuunin of Konohagakure no sato," started Tsunade, who was presiding over the trial. "As punishment for the unauthorized killing of a fellow ninja of the Hidden Leaf—and a jounin at that—you are sentenced to carry out a full year in exile from Konohagakure no sato and the area immediately surrounding her."

Gagged and tied up by Kakashi, Naruto could do nothing but glare menacingly at the room in general and make muffled sounds of protest. The two were sitting in the area meant for witnesses—Kakashi there because he's their sensei.

"This exile will be put into effect the morning after your injuries are fully healed, at seven am sharp. Any discrepancies may result in a longer exile time, permanent exile, or immediate imprisonment depending on the circumstances. Is that understood?"

Akina joined her legs and snapped a quick left-handed salute. "Wakatta, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade nodded once. "Good." She gave look at an ANBU in the back of the room. "Escort her back to her confinement room. No visitors. I will come by later to further explain her situation."

Akina followed the ANBU she knew was her old trainee partner without a complaint. Outside the room, he took Akina's hand and shunshined them to her jail cell in the Torture and Interrogation Department of the ANBU. He locked her in and activated the seals preventing her from escaping.

She gently sat herself down on the stiff bed, characteristically calm.

Standing guard at her door, Takeo kept up the semi-comfortable silence for an hour or so.

But Akina knew that he wanted to talk to her, even though he showed no signs of it. They had been partners, after all.

"...Do you take pride in being ANBU?" murmured Akina. There were no other prisoners in this corridor, so it was safe.

"Of course. Just like the bat prides itself in finding its way even on the foggiest of nights."

Sighing, Takeo relaxed from his stiff pose and turned around to cross his arms at her. "Kami-sama, you couldn't have done that sooner? I _know_ that it couldn't have taken you that long to figure out who I was!" _You probably knew it was me before I even stepped inside the courtroom._

"...I needed to sort my thoughts out."

Takeo just shook his head. "What are you going to do that entire year?"

"Wander." And gain better control of herself. This was the perfect opportunity for Ryuuki as well. They'd discussed this the day before, and all agreed that exile was the best punishment that could be given that everyone would agree with.

A few minutes later:

"...Hey, if you happen to be in the Lightning Country, can you get me one of those cool mini-lightning spheres? It's one of those tourist souvenirs, but I've always wanted one since I was a kid...," the way his deep voice got a little sheepish towards the end showed his honesty.

"...If I can," she said softly, turning her head towards the entrance of the jail cell corridor.

"Promise?" He turned back around, shifting into an attentive guard position.

"Hai."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Two days after receiving her punishment, Akina could be seen sighing silently in front of the Eastern Gate at around 6:25 am.

The reason why was because ever since finding out that Akina was being exiled for a year (without her), Kouseki had attached herself to her younger cousin, almost literally. She walked so close to Akina that their legs brushed against each other.

And now, at the gate from which she would be leaving, Kouseki had sat back on her hind legs and hugged her forelegs around Akina's torso, refusing to let go. Her large head was resting on Akina's left shoulder.

("Kouseki-sempai...aren't you being a bit...childish?") Akamaru sat on top of his partner's head. Both of them were just observing the little scene with a large amount of amusement.

Kouseki snorted (blowing Akina's bangs into her face). ("Hell no! I'm just...making sure the pup's warm. S'cold. The sun's not even up yet!") she replied indignantly. She knew it was a lame excuse, but she didn't really care at the moment.

The small dog buried his head into the hood of Kiba's jacket. Muffled snuffing sounds could be heard.

Naruto, sitting cross-legged by Akina's feet, was crossing his arms and scowling. His eyes were closed. He'd been trying to get in contact with Sasuke for the last few days, but the Uchiha was _still_ cutting himself off from the rest of his team.

The scarred Head of the Tiger Clan was laying down patiently, surrounded by animals that would have normally counted as prey, but were equals for what was to come. He was there to represent all those who couldn't come say good-bye.

In the middle of the small sea of morning animals (squirrels and song birds) was the calm Mountain Lion matriarch, Kyoukoumune's mother. In her shadow was Kuroi, the snake that had accompanied Akina for those first few months as Ryuuki.

Hiroki and Hiromi were perched in the tree nearest Akina, Kouseki, and Naruto. Underneath them was the gray wolf who had come by her apartment so often with the fox kit.

Over the next half hour, others started to arrive, to see off the quiet girl.

Hinata arrived with the main family of the Inuzuka, who were of course accompanied by their dog partners. Kiba, Hana, and Tsume; Akamaru, the Haimaru Sankyodai, and Kuromaru. Kuromaru had brought along with him his mate and newest litter of puppies, who had been introduced to Akina on her birthday.

Ino had come with her two teammates, and asked Akina if she could get her some Panda Lily seeds from Lightning Country. The young Yamanaka heiress, inwardly put out about the whole situation, at least wanted to give the one she considered a rival something to do. Not one to deny such a trivial request, Akina had agreed to the task.

Five minutes before seven, Ryuu let out an exhausted snort of fire, in reality amused but too tired from the recent ordeal to show it. **'By the time we get back, we will be plump from too much food and weighed down enough to feel the full brunt of the stuff even with the storage seals.'**

The others had taken after Ino and put in some requests.

Both Chouji and Naruto, in an uncharacteristically solemn manner (both for different reasons), asked Akina to try out the famous foods of the Elemental Countries—ramen in particular for Naruto, of course. The Akimichi also asked her to buy some bags of specialty BBQ chips from Earth Country.

Shikamaru had asked her to take naps in the most relaxing of locations in his place, and to tell him about the best ones. He also ordered her not to change in personality—Akina brought calmness to the hodgepodge of rather stressful personalities of the Konoha Twelve.

Kiba and Akamaru, on behalf of the rest of the present Inuzuka, had requested her to bring back some tasty dog treats, if it wasn't too much trouble. Or dog toys for the clan's puppies.

Anko, who had popped in three minutes before she was to leave—"HEY! Crazy examiner lady?! Why are _you_ here?!"—had told Akina point blank to "beat the shit out of any Oto-nin you see until they cry for their dead mommies".

It was especially amusing how all the older ninja in attendance had nodded in agreement. As in: Tsunade, Sarutobi, Jiraiya, Kakashi, Tsume, Hana, and Shizune, and Iruka.

Certain subtle movements from behind a building on the next block over attracted her attention.

_'Stay safe.' _

_'Keep training.' _

_'Godspeed.'_

Genma and Yuugao; the rest of her ANBU team. Takeo.

There was an odd twinge in Akina's chest. What was this emotion she was feeling?

Hinata shuffled forward to hesitatingly hug the other girl, whispering a farewell and to tell her her hopes of coming back safely. That she would miss her.

Her saddened aura gave Akina another twinge.

_I'll...only be gone for a year. I'll be coming back._ It wasn't like she was dying or anything.

Akina attempted to start walking away. Attempted being the key word. Kouseki acted as a dead-weight, holding the girl back. She let out another silent sigh, now frowning inwardly at the strange way she was reacting to it all.

"Kouseki-chan...," started a downcast Naruto. "You need to let her go."

Reluctantly, the wolf let her forelegs drop, ears drooping downwards.

Akina took a few steps, her heart beating a bit faster than before.

_This feeling..._

She turned around to face the others, and bowed deeply with her hands cupped outwards in thanks for coming.

_I don't think I've ever felt it before..._

Akina lifted up her hands and slipped off her hitai-ate, pocketing it in her hip pouch. As an exiled she was no longer allowed to wear it until her return.

_I've never been away for so long before..._

She opened her dark, dull jade green eyes slowly...and smiled.

_I'll miss them._

There was complete silence as Akina walked out of the gate. Right before she disappeared from sight and the clock hit seven, a cloud of smoke surrounded her, and she was gone.

Kouseki threw back her head and let out a long, mournful howl. A temporary good-bye. She was joined by the surrounding Inuzuka dogs, the Tiger Head, the Mountain Lion matriarch.

All around Konoha, the animals let out loud cries of farewell and a safe return.

The genin all bowed their heads.

They would miss her too.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

As the group was leaving the gate:

"... ... ...OMFG?! Did she just open her eyes?! And...and she smiled at us! A _real_ smile, not those tiny barely noticeable ones!"

And Naruto just laughed.

Yes, they would miss her.

They were only human after all.

* * *

WHOO! GO USA! Michael Phelps was awesome this early morning! (grins). EIGHT.


	18. Stone Diaries and IMPORTANT AN

**READ THIS READ THIS READ THIS READ THIS READ THIS READ THIS!**

Okay people, so I'm sure you've noticed that my writing/updating has pretty much come to a stand-still. This is because I realized (cough, six or so months ago, COUGH) that Akina is a Mary Sue, or at the VERY VERY least, has her foot on the borderline and is frowning at me for nearly pushing her _over_ said borderline.

Obviously this bugs me on an extreme level. I haven't been able to go on for a while, and I wanted to basically re-write the story to fix this. Those times when I edited...those tiny changes weren't enough.

The major elements and plot-lines will still be there, but in terms of relations between everyone, there's going to be a major overhaul.

I managed to type up some of the next chapter, and as a 'I'm sorry!' present to you all for being there for me, I'm going to let you read what I put anyways, even though it's probably not going to be there when the re-writes get to that stage.

When I get around to typing the re-write, I'm going to post the first chapter here. Depending on how satisfied I am with it, I may or may not post it in its own story and update there, under a different title.

So, I'm going to end this no doubt depressing author's note with my heartfelt thanks to everyone for sticking with me in my stumbles through writer-dom! I really do love you all! And don't worry, I'm going to leave this version up. I can't really bear to just delete this after all the time I put into it. I mean, holy freak. 146,000 words (ish).

"Talking"

_Thinking_

"_Telepathy through mind seal/jutsu"_

("Animals talking" / _"Telepathy from animals through mind seal/jutsu"_ )

"**Demon Language" / 'Demon talking telepathically with their host'**

_'Miscellaneous things such as signs, ANBU sign language, letters...'

* * *

_

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

**::;Seeing the Truth;::**

**Chapter Eighteen: Stone Diaries**

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Even three days after the event, Naruto couldn't help but wince at the mere thought of it.

Sasuke had returned the day after Akina had gone, and upon finding out what had happened since he'd left on his mission, it was very obvious that he was not happy.

It was very obvious to those close to him. It was very obvious to the other rookies. Hell, it was very obvious to some civilians on the other side of the village.

Not. Happy. At all.

Naruto sighed and rubbed the back of his head, staring into Akina's soft green room from his position in the hallway. If Akina had been there, she would have been able to calm the hot-blooded Uchiha down, just with her mere presence. There was just something in her aura...

Sasuke was giving everyone the cold shoulder, and there was this malicious taste in the air around him that made people give him a wide berth. Needless to say, Naruto had gotten very bored, very fast without his rival there to argue with. It wasn't the same with Kouseki, because the youkai would always twist his words until it made things awkward enough for her to laugh at. Loudly.

And now, with Jiraiya's offer to go on a training trip...

("You goin' somewhere?")

Naruto froze, caught red-handed in the process of packing his stuff.

He spun around, spotting the wolf demon sitting in his doorway. _Aw, crap._ On reflex, he scratched the back of his neck and released some nervous laughter. "Kouseki-chan! I swear I'm not doing anything suspicious!"

("...Right. And I guess you're gonna say that you're _not_ getting ready to leave with the super pervert for two and a half years?")

_Double crap._ Naruto grinned and nodded.

Kouseki's lips curled back in a wolf smile. ("And you're _not_ going to say good-bye to everyone?")

He shook his head, still grinning. _Hey, wait a minute. Was that 'No, I'm not going to say good-bye to everyone' or 'No, you're wrong, I _am_ going to say good-bye to everyone'?_ Naruto pouted at her.

With a snort, Kouseki padded into the room, nudging the door shut. She curled up in the middle of his room to watch him with her bright golden eyes.

Naruto continued to pack his stuff, ignoring the weight of her gaze. "Of course I'm gonna say good-bye to everyone. Why wouldn't I?"

Another snort. ("Because people are going to _smear you into Naruto-toothpaste?_")

Naruto dropped his black sleeping cap to whirl around. Kouseki didn't bat an eyelash as his violent expression, a strange light in his eyes.

"So?!" He snapped. Then, regretting his terse action, he lowered his voice and rubbed the back of his neck. Clear blue eyes softened. "I just...I just need to take a break from this place, okay? Clear my head. Train. Get stronger. Akina-chan'll need help with her Shinigami assignment, right? I mean, it's that _pedo-snake dude_...is _everything's _deadline in the next few years?!"

He threw up his arms and flopped onto his bed. Then he started ticking off the list of things with his fingers. "Fruity snake dude has to get a new body in three years. Akatsuki'll prolly not want him to get a new body, so they'll get more 'I KILL YOU!'. Akina-chan has to kill Orochimaru by then to not go insane—gah, can you imagine that?! _Akina, __insane!_—and she needs to go through all of her memories and...and go back to Makai to be the Dragon Boss..."

The jinchuuriki wilted a little, sinking more into the bed at that last part—both from stress and from the prospect of the two demons leaving.

("And what about me and the gaki? What are we gonna do all alone?") The grin widened. ("You know that he won't survive without one of you guys here, right? I've been told that it's not good to spend extended amounts of time alone with me, huahahaha! I wonder why?! HAHAHA!")

Laying on the bed, he turned his head towards the wolf on his carpet. That strange light was still there in his eyes, except now it was brighter. Absentmindedly, Kouseki wondered just what it was, but then she realized that Naruto was still talking to her.

"—a way to get out of the village every once in a while." He didn't seem to notice her brief lapse in attention and continued on, energy recharging itself as he talked. "Maybe if you two can get out together, so that you can watch over each other or somethin'...hey, how far does this telepathic connection thing reach anyways?"

_Ha! Didn't miss the question!_ "Depends on how hard you concentrate on it and how mentally powerful you are, I guess. And the content of the message."

"Gotta test that...," he mumbled, squinting at the ceiling.

Kouseki now recognized that strange shine in his eyes as his creative ingenuity kicking in. _Oh...?_

"Oi, Kouseki-chan...how do you think we'll be able to get you an' Sasuke-teme out of the village?" _Oh, that's what he was talking about,_ thought Kouseki. "Because that bastard'll wanna take breaks from the village too for sure, right? Yeah, I'm sure of it," he nodded to himself and kept on mumbling to himself.

A bushy black tail wagged as Kouseki settled in for the brainstorming night. _And the King of Pranks re-surfaces once again!_

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Akina was completely unaware of the stress back in Konoha. She was heading in the vague direction of Tea Country. Vague meaning she kept on taking detours to interact with some of the beasts.

Now that she was free of the constraints of Konoha, she was free to do what she wanted, when she wanted to.

Ryuu, Okami, and Akina had come into agreement that it would be extremely suspicious if she just disappeared off the surface of the planet right after the banishment and the Ryuuki came back after.

Which was why she sent ahead her 'wind sprite sempai' to one of the five elemental temples—the one nearest to the Wave Country—to act as the Ryuuki in her stead. Apparently elemental sprites were assigned to demons once they got approved, to become their lifelong 'sempai' in manipulating the elements. The wind sprite wouldn't say anything more than that, opting more to do donut-holes around the girl for a few minutes before agreeing to leave her side for a week.

**'Are you sure we should leave Kaze-sempai alone?'** remarked Ryuu, thoughts still on the delighted laughter of the sprite before the departure. They haven't even been given its/her/his name, how could they believe with certainty that Ryuuki's name wouldn't be tainted?

_We'll just have to trust Kaze-sempai..._

**'Trust...,'** murmured the little wolf pup.

Both Akina and Ryuu didn't say anything to that melancholy statement. Mood swings were starting to become a common thing with her, and it left Akina questioning to herself when the insanity would spread to Ryuu as well. In the end, she'd have to deal with her mind's problems all alone.

A few miles away, she sensed an ANBU platoon leaving on a mission. And she had no doubt that they were able to sense her (which is what she wanted) and would put her location in their report.

One week. She'd let herself be kept track of for one week, then she'd let 'Akina' vanish until the one year was up.

Until then, she'd just wander around like she said she would.

**'And when we're Ryuuki again, try not to scare too many people...,' **added Ryuu in a dry tone. They needed to check the rumor mills sometime soon. There was no telling how many people would be after the Shishou no Ryuuki now that she had killed the Setting Sun leader. That was the problem with crime rings—everything was connected, and when you tried to cut off a link it regrew faster than you could blink. That's what she needed to watch for.

Normally, Akina wouldn't have cared how many people wanted to kill her. Or hated her. Or felt uncomfortable around her. Really, as long as they didn't actively try to restrict her freedom or stalk her (successfully), she didn't really care. Which frustrated Ryuu, because when they got their memories back and returned to Makai (when, not if—all three refused to, or simply didn't, think about failing the Shinigami and going _completely_ insane), Akina would immediately be immersed in the thick of demon politics.

Sighing silently, Akina stopped on a high branch. _That's out of my control..._

Ryuu sighed too, though a slight rumbling growl was laced in it. **'Think of it as practice, Akina. From Kouseki's behavior, we will most likely **_**not**_** be getting a warm welcome back into Makai, at least from the majority of the population. We—you—need to learn to deal with these negative reactions and disperse them.'**

_I know, but we don't have time right now. _Earth _and_ water manipulation were no longer possible for her. Akina hadn't expected these abilities to disappear so quickly, but at least she could still sense her surroundings through the water—just not with the earth.

Suddenly Akina was forced to repress a full-body shiver. And as quick at it had come, it went away.


End file.
